Back to the Mohicans
by VFFW
Summary: I suck at summaries. Basically, the Mohicans meet up with future soldiers. Some comedy ensues.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I started reading MohawkWoman's story about the Last of the Mohicans and really got into it. I vaguely remembered the movie and thought it was an interesting premise. I thought it would be cool if they ended up in a mall. This is what happens when my imagination is given free reign and I drink way too much coffee.**

 **All errors of any sort are mine. The original story and movie belong to much more imaginative people than me. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but remember this is my story so the characters can do whatever I want them to do.**

 **I suck at titles**

"Reaper, deal with her," the Captain told her, waving her hand in the direction of the blonde. She was in a long dress, like out of the eighteen hundreds, or so. Reaper didn't bitch, but Nye chuckled.

Reaper was tall, about five eleven, with short dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a lean frame and she was dressed like the others, in combat green clothes, carrying several guns and knives. Her ammunition was strung across her chest. Her black combat boots were dirty.

She walked up to her and looked down. The blond was short and slight. Quietly crying and sitting on the floor of the store they'd broken into. Angel, a tall native, dressed as she was, with long black hair that was tied back, fatigues, weapons and boots was with her.

Reaper bent down. "What's your name, hon?" she asked in a low voice, ignoring the white guy, the native, who was staring at Angel and the short, slight, dark haired woman that were surrounding her. They were dressed almost from the same period.

"Alice," the blond whispered.

"Alice, my name's Reaper. Now, Alice, do you want to live?"

The blond shook her head yes. "Okay, Alice, now this is totally fucked up, but if you want to live you're going to need to change your clothes. There are some pants on that rack over there. I want you to take this other woman and pick something out, okay? Because, sister, you aren't going to be able to run in that…is that a dress?"

Alice shrunk back. The dark haired woman interrupted. "Those clothes aren't decent," she exclaimed.

"What's your name?" Reaper asked the dark haired woman. Her dress had seen better days. Her long dark hair was flowing to the middle of her back.

"Cora."

"Cora, if you and Alice want to live you're going to have to ditch the reenactment gear."

They all had puzzled looks on their faces. Reaper sighed.

"What year are you from?"

"What kind of question is that?" Cora asked incredulously. "It's the year of our lord 1757."

Angel snorted. "No, it's not, Cora. Time is fluctuating. Right now it looks like the 1970's and we don't know how long it's going to last. You both will have to haul ass and you won't be doing it dressed like Martha Washington. So, pick out some pants, I recommend the dark blue pants, some shirts, bras, socks and tennis shoes, so if you have to run you won't fall flat on your face. And I'm not carrying anyone," she shot a look at the group.

The white guy with long hair snorted this time. "The 1970's. I don't believe it."

Reaper turned to her Captain. "Cap, they think I'm crazy. Maybe Smith should talk to them. She's nicer than I am."

Angel started laughing. "She was pretty nice about it, Cap."

"Fuck you, man," Reaper retorted. Angel laughed harder. The Captain called for Smith. She and Jones approached the motley group. Reaper and Angel walked away hearing Smith talk to them gently about the time fluctuation. They took their positions by the door, looking out for anything. The dinosaurs had been a bitch to get rid of.

The older native that had been with the Alice and Cora group was looking around the store. Einstein and Nye were setting up a sat relay on the hope they could tap into the primitive technology. The Captain and sergeant were looking over a map that covered the area from the 1970's they'd taken from the sporting goods section.

The older native went up to Angel. "Where are you from?"

Still looking out the door Angel replied. "I'm Navajo. I'm from out west."

"Farther than Can-tuk-ee?" Angel and Reaper looked at each other.

"You mean Kentucky?" Reaper asked for clarification.

"Can-tuk-ee, yes."

"Yes, farther along than Kentucky. What are you?"

"Mohican." Reaper and Angel had never heard of that tribe.

"What is this place?" the Mohican asked.

"This is called a store."

"What's your name, dude?" Reaper asked him. The eyes widened.

"Dude?"

"Yeah, it means man or guy," Angel explained. He stood still and stared for a minute then shook his head.

"Chingachgook."

"I'm Angel, this is Reaper," Angel introduced them.

"Meetcha, Chingachgook," Reaper said.

"Meetcha?"

"Yeah, it's short for nice to meet you." She stood straight. "Sarge, T. Rex coming around the corner." She'd seen the tip of the shadow. She and Angel shooed Chingachgook back from the door then they stood to the side pulling their weapons in front of them.

"Wrap it up, folks. We gotta roll," the sergeant called out. Smith had finally got that group to the back of the store near the clothing. She was helping them pick something out. The guys were protesting but Jones was showing them the men's shoes and explaining they were better than what they were wearing. They were in awe of the selection and style.

"Einstein, Nye, pack it in. There's a base fifteen klicks from here and hopefully we stay around this time frame."

"Our time would be better, Captain," Nye said.

"Yes it would, Nye, but beggars can't be choosers. Shut it down," the Captain ordered. They went to the back of the store with everyone else, leaving Angel and Reaper at the front. "Angel, Reaper keep it off us. You know where the base is." The Captain shuffled everyone out the back. The group heard a loud roar as they made their way to a pickup truck. Einstein and Nye jumped in the back grabbing the gear from Jones and Smith. "Come on, y'all, in the back," Jones instructed while the Captain started the truck. The Alice and Cora show all backed away until Smith and Jones pulled their guns. "In. It won't hurt you and we need to get going." Then gun fire rang out from the building.

The old timers got in and the Captain floored it. Alice, Cora and the men fell against the side of the truck.

"What about Reaper?" Cora asked. Alice was huddled by the young native. Chingachgook was running his hand along the side of the truck.

"That bitch is made of titanium," Smith smiled at them.

Cora's nose wrinkled. "Yeah, she'll probably come to the base riding that thing," Jones shook his head.

Einstein and Nye laughed. "Wouldn't put it past her," Einstein agreed. "I'm Einstein, this is Nye. So, I'm sure you don't understand a damn thing that's happening."

They all looked wide eyed. "And nothing I'm going to say will help you understand, so just know that we'll try and keep you alive, but you gotta do what we say, alright? Now, who's who?"

"Chingachgook," the older native said. "These are my sons, Uncas and Hawkeye. These are the Monroe sisters."

"Alice and Cora, Ein," Jones said.

"Cool. Now, because of the time you're from, I heard you say 1757, you'll have a hard time understanding what any of us say. If you get confused, just let us know and if we have time we'll explain."

"What kind of guns are those?" Hawkeye, the white guy with long hair asked.

"This is a Glock," Nye held it up. "Fifteen round mag," and he pulled it out and showed them the bullets. Einstein brought her M16 up. "What Einstein's holding is called an M16. The magazine holds thirty bullets."

"Magazine?" Uncas, the younger native asked.

"Yeah, that's what we call it because it stores the bullets or rounds." The men's eyes got big.

"Sweet, huh?" Jones asked.

"You're wearing…trousers," Alice whispered.

"Yeah, Einstein and I are soldiers, Alice. In our time women can be whatever they want. We don't depend on men," Smith explained.

"You do, too, idiot. How many times have I gotten your back?" Jones stared at Smith.

"I mean, like in a husband and marriage kind of way. We make our own money, have our own jobs, vote, have sex, and you don't have to be married, have kids if you want." Smith looked at Jones. "Better?" she snapped.

Jones smiled. "Yep." He turned to the guys. "They're still a pain in the ass, though."

Smith rolled her eyes. "Guys are still idiots. Nothing's changed that way." A beep went off. Einstein pulled out her phone. "Time change in five minutes," she shouted. The truck slowed down.

"What's going on?" Cora shouted.

"Four minutes, forty-five seconds," she intoned. The truck pulled over to the side of the road.

"Shhh," Nye motioned them to get out. Everyone grabbed something while Einstein counted down.

"The time flux happens every hour or so and we never know what we're going to get. If we're in the truck and we go to a time, like 1757, that doesn't have them we may be stuck with the truck and no way of knowing if we can meet up."

"Three minutes," Einstein rattled off. The Captain motioned them to the tree line. "Sarge, get the map out. This should be a good spot." The sergeant, a tall, muscular black man, pulled out a map and spread it on the ground. Angel and Reaper appeared in another car, shut it off and joined the group, taking positions on either side, weapons drawn.

"What took you so long?" The sergeant asked.

"Couldn't shake the T, Sarge," Reaper replied with her weapon sweeping the area. Angel was mimicking her on the other side.

"One minute, forty-five seconds," the countdown continued.

"One minute."

"Forty-five seconds."

"Thirty seconds."

"Fifteen seconds."

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four seconds, three, two and mark." There was a slight shimmer, but the road stayed right where it was and it was covered with cars from the 1990's.

"Great. The nineties. Load up, let's get going." There was a black hummer where the truck was. Everyone but Chingachgook and company grabbed some gear and shoved it inside. Alice started freaking out. Cora attempted to hold her and calm her down. Reaper pointed a gun in her face.

"Shut up and get in." Uncas tried to knock the gun away and she knocked him on his ass. "Look, little boy, I don't have time for her shit. Yeah, it's too bad her parent's didn't prepare her for this, but I'm not losing the lives of my team because she's freaking the fuck out."

Chingachgook and Hawkeye looked at her and Uncas on the ground. She moved fast. Angel was laughing and handing over the last of the gear. "Chingachgook, sorry, she's got a temper."

Cora helped Alice get in the Hummer. Angel and Reaper were the last in. She hit the roof and the car took off. Angel and Reaper were the sentries in the back.

"Where is everyone else?" Cora asked. She held Alice far away from Angel and Reaper.

"We don't know. In fact, when we found you you were the first people we'd seen for two hours after this whole thing started."

"What…happened?" Chingachgook asked.

"We don't know. We were on patrol in the Middle East when all of a sudden we weren't. We were being chased by dinosaurs. We couldn't shake the T, it came with us to Ancient Greece, like 800 BCE, feudal Japan, where it ate some Samurai. We lost them, the Samurai, then we were in the US, that fucking thing was still on us, and we found you, to where we are now."

"Yeah, that was fun. I thought for sure those sentries were going to shit their pants, or togas, when we just appeared out of nowhere."

Reaper started laughing. "Man, I thought for sure they were going to start worshiping Angel. I mean, how many men had they seen with long, straight, black hair?"

"I thought they would've made the Sarge captain of the armies."

"Well, the Sarge is built like a tank," Jones pointed out.

"Well, if the Captain hadn't known how to speak some sort of Greek, you'd a been dead, Reaper."

"What the fuck ever, man," she spat.

Einstein started laughing and explained to Chingachgook and company. "Reaper got a little pissed when one of them tried to touch her guns and knives. That bitch is way protective. She flipped that guy over her shoulder and had her boot on his throat in five seconds."

"It was six seconds, Ein," Angel corrected.

"Yeah, that little thing she did at the top of the mountain to that guy with the scar and his friends…that's her."

"Fucker was in my way."

Alice cringed into Cora. "Is your language always so…odd?" Cora asked. They'd made it to the gate when the car came to a stop. The Captain, Sarge, Angel and Reaper all got out. The Captain and Sarge went to the gate, Angel and Reaper surrounded the car. Everyone was watching out of the windows.

The Captain pointed to the car and made a fist. She pointed at Angel and Reaper then pointed to the gate. Einstein had gotten out the laptop and held up her hand flat, indicating five minutes. Earpieces came out.

"What are those?" Chingachgook asked.

"Earpieces. We can communicate with each other. Now." Smith and Jones got out and took Angel and Reapers positions.

"Okay, Captain. There's a weapons depot five hundred yards northwest. I'm reading Huey's, refueling station same, east."

Nye put audio on. "So you guys can hear what we're saying," he explained while he pulled out another laptop.

"Angel, Reaper, weapons. Rocket launchers would be nice, but get everything you can carry. Sarge, check out the commissary. We'll need supplies. I'll take the command post and see what I can see. Thirty minutes. No lollygagging."

"Yes, Captain," was heard through the speakers.

"Life, Einstein?" the Captain asked.

"No heat signatures, Captain. I don't know what the fuck."

"I want you and Nye to find something if you can."

"Yes, Captain," they answered. The car was silent except for Alice crying quietly. After fifteen minutes the Captain started speaking again. "Nothing here. I'm heading for med wing."

"Captain," Nye said after another fifteen minutes. "I got life about an hour from here. Spread out."

"Radius?"

"Three feet, staggered. Moving slowly west."

"Animals," Angel said.

"Agreed. Can you try and get visual?"

"Captain, it'll take a minute. These guys are using Windows Three."

"Get what you can, Nye," the Sarge interrupted. "I'm almost done. I'll be there in five." They heard a truck driving up and through the gate. Smith and Jones helped take the MRE's the Sarge had gotten and put them in the truck. Three minutes later another truck rolled up and Angel and Reaper got out and started loading weapons.

"It's gonna be a tight fit."

"Move it to one of the trucks, Sarge. We'll have to stay with it. I want all the supplies we can carry," the Captain ordered. "I'm on my way back with medical supplies and I want to keep it all."

Everyone got out of the Hummer. Smith, Jones, Angel, Reaper and Sarge started loading one of the trucks. Food near the front, weapons near the back. The Sarge passed out blankets and bottles of water to Chingachgook, Uncas, Hawkeye, Cora and Alice.

"Miss Monroe, I figured you could use these. Sorry, no pillows." He showed them how to open the water bottles. Uncas helped Alice with hers, Hawkeye helped Cora. After the truck was loaded everyone got in. Angel and Reaper laid down backs to each other, weapons in hand. Cora got Alice settled as far away from them as possible in the truck. The sound of a car reached them. It pulled up beside the truck and the Captain got out. Smith, Jones and the Sarge unloaded the ambulance and put the medical supplies by the food.

"What are we looking at, Sergeant?"

"I cleaned out the MRE's, should last us a six months, most of the water bottles, that could be an issue. Angel and Reaper got five rocket launchers, three cases of grenades, one hundred M16's, five thousand rounds, two hundred handguns, various models and enough ammo for them for three months depending."

"Okay, we have fifteen minutes left. I want to find shelter. Assuming it'll be the same as before, minus the shitting Greeks, so let's find a place to land."

Einstein and Nye chuckled underneath their breath. "There's a mall back the way we came. It's on the map we took from that store. It's about three klicks south." Sarge pointed it out.

The Captain looked at the map that was spread on the hood of the truck. "Einstein, Nye, can you get a sat feed of the area?"

"On it."

They pulled up what they could. "Mmm, there's a Best Buy. Let's go there. We'll load up on batteries and what they laughingly call laptops. And we're in April 13th 1996."

"You heard her, people, load up. Einstein, you and Nye get some shuteye with Angel and Reaper. Jones, you're driving," the Sarge barked out orders. The Captain got in and went to the front of the truck and laid down. Alice was sleeping, Chingachgook, Uncas, and Hawkeye took protective positions around her and Cora. Smith was up front with Jones, the Sarge sitting by the Captain.

"What were the animals, Nye?" The Captain asked.

"Cows, Captain."

"Anymore dinosaurs?"

"They didn't show up."

"All we need is some zombies to make this one hell of a tour."

"Shut the fuck up, man," Reaper bitched.

After a few minutes Chingachgook asked what zombies are.

"Dead people that are alive and eat people."

"Stow it, Nye," the Captain said.

"Sorry, Captain."

"Chingachgook, there's no such thing as zombies. It's a popular cultural thing for our time," Sarge reassured him.

The Captain turned over. "That's not such a bad idea, Nye. I'm assuming you're thinking about Resident Evil and the boat."

"More like Dawn of the Dead the 2004 remake, Captain."

She turned back over. "I'll take it under advisement. Let's see what happens the next go around."

Jones pulled up to the Best Buy. "Stay in the truck, people."

Nye started the countdown. Angel and Reaper stood up and grabbed some weapons, waiting.

"…Five, four, three, two and mark." Reaper and Angel opened up the back. In front of them was Best Buy, but cars from the 2000's. They got out and circled the truck then advanced on the store. Reaper pulled out some picks and picked the lock. The alarm went off and Angel went inside the store, Reaper following. Sarge got out and guarded the truck.

"Angel, Reaper? Anything?"

"Clear, sir."

"Good. I want laptops, batteries, flashlights, food and water if they got it. Grab movies, documentaries for our new friends. You have fifteen minutes," the Captain informed them. "I want to make that mall before the next shift."

"Yes, sir."

Fifteen minutes later they opened up the back of the truck and loaded ten laptops, movies, batteries, snacks, and sodas. After they were done they laid back down. Jones started up the truck and headed for the mall. Cora and Alice were asleep. Chingachgook just watched the entire time with Uncas and Hawkeye. They made it to the mall and waited another ten minutes before the shift. When Angel and Reaper opened the door the cars were still from the 2000's.

"What was the date, Angel?" The Captain asked.

"May 3rd, 2007."

"Check again," she ordered.

"Yes, sir," he said and tried the first car. He opened it up and pulled out a paper. "May 3rd, 2007, Captain," he told her when he got back in.

"Fine. Let's stay here for a couple of hours. Bathroom breaks now, people, before the shift. Smith, take the Monroe's and show them how. Jones, take Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye. If we're still in this day by," she looked at her watch, "fifteen hundred, we'll find a hotel and sleep in real beds."

"Yes, sir," the acknowledged. Smith woke up the Monroe's while Jones led the men into the mall telling them to not touch anything. The Monroe's followed, not wanting to be away from them. After they got out Angel and Reaper laid back down and fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Three o'clock rolled around and they were still in May 3rd, 2007. "Find us a place to stay, Einstein."

Smith, Jones and the Sarge were sleeping when the Captain gave the order.

"Yes, sir."

"Why do you call her 'sir' if she's a woman?" Alice asked. After learning how to use the bathroom, which Smith had laughed her ass off, she hadn't said anything. She ate what was put in front of her, but didn't like it. None of them did. The Sarge explained MRE's to them.

"Because she's my commanding officer. Some women in command prefer to be called 'ma'am', but the Captain isn't like that. She prefers sir."

The documentaries that Angel and Reaper got for Chingachgook, Uncas, Hawkeye, Alice and Cora had thrown them for a loop. They'd touched the screen of the laptop, the keyboard, Chingachgook shook it, and the mouse fascinated them. Nye and Einstein patiently explained everything they could. The concepts weren't something they understood. Cora and Alice had been horrified by the clothing, the open sexuality, women having children with other women or by themselves. Men having children with other men had horrified Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye. Reaper had laughed her ass off at that. Although all of them had been fascinated by the moon landing.

The Captain pulled up in front of a small hotel. She got out and opened the doors to the truck. Angel and Reaper jumped down and stood in front of her.

"Okay. We've been in this time for about five hours. Things seemed to have settled down. We're going to sleep in real beds. Angel, Reaper, check it out. If there's a room with enough for all of us, I'd like to stay together. If not, find a block close together. When they give their report, Sarge, I want you to have Einstein, Nye, Angel and Reaper unload everything close to where we are. Chingachgook, Alice, Cora, Uncas and Hawkeye I'd like you to stay close to Smith and Jones. You seem to get along better with them. They'll show you how to use the shower, shampoo, and other basic toiletries. Einstein and Nye, try and get linked to whatever satellite you can find. I don't give a fuck what country. Hack if you need too."

Ten minutes later they got the all clear from Angel and Reaper. First floor had several handicap rooms close together.

"Good. Wait for my signal before you move, Sarge. Angel and Reaper stay where you are."

"Yes, sir," they chorused.

Three minutes later saw everyone into the hotel. Supplies were being unloaded while Smith and Jones showed the olders how to work the shower, about shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and toothbrushes. Angel and Reaper showed them the pool. Uncas, Hawkeye and Chingachgook knew how to swim. Alice and Cora were still getting used to bras and underwear.

Einstein and Nye set up in one room, Angel and Reaper had a room, the Captain and Sarge shared while Smith and Jones stayed with the Monroe's and the Mohicans. The Captain raided the kitchen and made food.

While they were eating the Captain laid out what she wanted to do, barring any more time shifts. "Alright, Alice and Cora. I understand that you feel uncomfortable in those clothes, but as Reaper so eloquently put it, you can't run if you're dressed like you were. So, first thing in the morning Smith and Jones will take you shopping at the mall. I want all of you to pick out some things to wear. We'll get you bags to carry it in. I recommend jeans as they're more durable."

Alice scrunched her nose up. She hadn't liked the jeans she had on and she still didn't like them. "Then, when you get back everyone gets a handgun lesson. We don't mind protecting you, but you need to learn to protect yourselves if something happens to us. Angel and Reaper will handle that. If you have any questions or issues, talk to Sarge and he'll help you. Einstein and Nye, I want all the intel you can find. I want to see how long it would take to get to a large body of water and I'm going to want a ship. Preferably a barge where we can take any animals that we find and some space to grow a garden. Angel and Reaper, I want any planting material, dirt, seeds, etc. found. Get with Einstein on the animals. Now, it's been a long tiring day, so everyone get a good eight." She walked out of the room.

"I've set an alarm, so if you try and get out, we'll hear you," Reaper advised them then she left the room with Angel.

Einstein and Nye wandered out next. Smith and Jones had clean up duty. Chingachgook, Uncas, Alice, Hawkeye and Cora waited until they were done. They headed towards the rooms they'd be sharing. When they got in the beds, Alice and Cora sleeping in one, Hawkeye and Uncas had pull out beds, Chingachgook had his own bed and Smith and Jones had another. Alice and Cora were startled when they took their coats and boots off and got into bed together.

"Are you married?" Alice asked incredulously.

"Yes, we are."

Smith rolled over to face her. "Angel and Reaper aren't."

Cora's mouth fell open. "That's scandalous," she whispered.

"No, it's not. They've been together for five years."

"Do the people of your tribe get married, Chingachgook?" Jones asked.

"Yes."

"The Navajo don't. Neither do the Apache."

He looked puzzled. "More native tribes to the west of Can-tuck-ee," Smith explained.

"Reaper doesn't believe in the institution. She thinks it total bullshit."

Hawkeye shook his head. They were having a hard time with this future stuff. Chingachgook was not quite as shocked and Uncas asked his father why in Mohican.

"Son, I've seen the white man come with many things, like your musket. They dressed and spoke differently. This is like that, but with odder things."

Hawkeye shook his head again and tried to turn over. The bed he was in was softer that what he was used to and he couldn't get comfortable. He could hear Uncas tossing and turning.

"Tough to sleep, brother?" Hawkeye was going to speak in Mohican. These Yangeze were very strange and he didn't want them knowing their conversations.

"Yes." Uncas answered shortly. He considered himself to be a good fighter but that woman had put him on the ground.

* * *

Alice turned to look at Cora. "I'm frightened, Cora. I don't understand what's going on. I saw Papa killed." She started to cry. Cora hugged her and ran her hand through Alice's hair.

"I'll take care of you, Alice."

"That Reaper woman. She scares me more than Magua."

"We will survive this, Alice. I promise." Cora held Alice while she cried herself to sleep. After a few minutes Cora fell asleep.

* * *

Uncas waited until he heard everyone breathing steadily. He got out of bed and walked down the 'hallway' until he found the 'front desk'. He walked around the 'lobby' looking out of the windows. He started to touch the door when he heard sounds behind him. Angel and Reaper stepped out of the shadows.

"Go back to bed, Uncas," Angel advised. Reaper held up her weapon.

"You're too loud, dude." Reaper stared at him.

Uncas was offended. He was a good tracker, quiet, swift.

Angel came toward him, hands up, showing nothing. "Uncas, what did you think you were going to do? What if the time shifted when you weren't with us? You would've been stranded, away from your father and brother. They would've been worried about you."

Uncas hadn't thought of that. He passed them walking back toward the room he'd been staying in. When he walked in he saw Hawkeye was awake. Uncas shook his head. "Angel and Reaper were waiting. They said I was too loud," he grunted.

Hawkeye looked at him in shock. Uncas was quiet. All the time. He rolled over and went back to sleep. Uncas looked at Chingachgook, sleeping peacefully.

* * *

The next morning Chingachgook woke up his sons. The Monroe sisters were sleeping and Smith and Jones were gone. They got up and walked down toward the 'kitchen' and 'dining room' to see the Captain, Sarge, Einstein, Nye, Jones, Smith, Angel and Reaper eating and drinking

"Morning, Chingachgook. There's coffee in the pot, cream and sugar on the table. Reaper will make you eggs or I think there are some donuts and bagels, if you want," Sarge told them.

"'Donuts'? 'Bagels'?"

Angel brought out some donuts and bagels. "You can toast these," he held up the bagel, "and put butter, jelly or cream cheese on it. Or you can eat is like it is." He cut a bagel in half and put that and the donuts on plate. The men reached out and touched. Uncas picked up a sprinkled donut and smelled it. Hawkeye was touching the bagel. Chingachgook picked up a powdered donut and took a bite. His eyes widened. He took another bite.

"This is good," he looked at Angel.

Smith toasted a bagel and put butter on a piece, butter and jelly on another, cream cheese on the last. Uncas and Hawkeye each picked one. Jones made up more just like them.

"This way you can taste them all."

Reaper sat a cup of coffee in front of Chingachgook. He looked at her in surprise. She smiled at him. "I like you, man. I don't know how much you know about coffee, but try it black first. If you don't like it," she held up containers of milk and sugar. "Then try to mix and match with these, if you want."

"Run like hell, Chingachgook. She doesn't like many people," Angel explained. "Now you're in a world of hurt." Reaper flipped him off.

"She'll try and hurt me?" he asked Angel.

"No, she'll take a bullet for you and try to protect you. That'll get old. You seem like you can take care of yourself. When she gets too mother hen tell her to fuck off."

"'Fuck off'?'"

"Yeah, the meaning we, our time, attribute to the work fuck to fornicate. Since then it's been adopted as a derogatory word." The men looked lost so Smith tried to explain again. "Angel and Reaper will teach you all kinds of swear words, but in this instance, telling Reaper to 'fuck off' will tell her to leave you alone."

Reaper sat back down. "And don't expect that to work all the time, dude." Angel laughed. Hawkeye and Uncas stared at them. Chingachgook tried creamer and sugar in his coffee. When he found a combination he liked he took another bite of donut. The Captain looked at Sarge and shook her head, laughing.

"Okay, listen up. Angel and Reaper make another round at the mall, find something with a date on it then hit a Home Depot or a garden store. If we're going to be stuck in no man's land in 2007 I want to bag some more things. Jones, you and Smith take Chingachgook and company shopping. You'll know what to get. Einstein and Nye set up in a conference room and we'll go over what you've found. Sarge, you and I'll do a recon of about five klicks surrounding this place. I want a full report in an hour." She and the Sarge exited the room. Jones suggested that they go wake up the sisters.

Angel and Reaper stood up and left, Einstein and Nye following them. Smith and Jones finished up, waiting on the others. Hawkeye got up and asked Smith to go with them to wake up the Monroe's. She picked up her weapon and followed.

"Why does your Captain want to find a large body of water?" Hawkeye asked.

"With the way time is shifting it could be kind of iffy that we won't end up embedded in a wall or something," he looked confused. "That we won't reappear in another time inside a wall, then we're instantly dead. With a large body of water nothing much changes."

Chingachgook nodded. "Yes, that makes sense."

"That's why she's the Captain and I'm not."

They got to the room and the Monroe sisters were just waking up. Chingachgook told them to eat some breakfast. "Then, we are going 'shopping' at the 'mall'."

"Did you want to take another shower or something?" Alice and Cora looked confused. "You can bathe daily. In fact, it's encouraged. I'm not sure how people made it out of the 1800's with the aversion to water."

"It's not healthy to bathe every day," Cora informed them.

"Yes, it is. You have an easier chance of catching something if you're not clean. Natives knew this in your time." Smith looked at Chingachgook for confirmation.

"Yes, bathing is healthy."

They looked like they were going to balk. Jones told them they didn't have too, but it was encouraged. Smith got them moving to the dining room.

Smith found some tea and put the water on. Alice watched fascinated. Cora was poking a bagel. Jones made up more like Smith had done earlier. Alice and Cora ate the bagels and drank tea. Cora tried coffee which she liked after she dumped a lot of sugar in it.

"Alright, we've got fifteen before the briefing," the sisters looked confused. "The Captain sent Angel and Reaper out to look around, find out what time we're in. If we're still in 2007," Smith continued, "we're going to the mall to find you some more clothes and stuff. Then we'll come back here and Angel and Reaper will teach you how to use modern weapons." Alice shrank back. Smith took pity on her. "I'm sorry, Alice, that this is confusing to you, but you should be aware of how to use them. You could end up saving yourself or your sister." She still looked frightened. "Alright, you don't have to use one, but at least listen when they explain how it works, okay?" Cora patted Alice's hand.

"Alright," she answered in a small voice. Jones smiled at her and Cora.

"Cool. Put your dishes in the dish pit, I'll show you, and then let's get to the conference room." Everyone followed Smith to the kitchen and she pointed out the big metal box that did dishes. They made their way to the conference room to find everyone there. There was screen pulled down with pictures of earth from far away. They looked similar to the ones that Chingachgook and the others were shown yesterday.

"…just gone. All of the equipment's working, but no one's home," they heard Nye say when they walked in. "Except for this spot," he pointed to the screen. "There's some activity there but I can't tell what it is. We've never seen anything like this before."

"Do you think it's the source of what the fuck ever this is?" the Captain asked.

"I hesitate to say. We'd need better intel on this."

The Sarge looked up when they came in. He motioned them to chairs and they sat. Chingachgook looked at the pictures.

"Is that Texas?" Angel said.

"Yeah, near Houston. Ein and I found signs of animal life, but those cows we saw yesterday are gone."

"Where are they? We haven't seen any birds since this whole thing started. Or any kind of bugs. I mean, where are the roaches? Those things could survive a nuclear bomb," Reaper noted.

"I think we're going to be stable because we saw a nest of robins not far from here and they were alive. I didn't think to look for bugs."

"What about the oceans? Any signs of life?"

"Signs of some school of fish in a lake near here. Lake Superior. Not sure about the ocean, we didn't get that far yet."

"Point one of the satellites to our location. I want constant readings, every fifteen from shift. We should be coming up on one in seven minutes. I want to see, or not see, something. After the shift, Jones, Smith, shopping. Angel and Reaper, the lot behind this is empty. Set up a range. Get a selection and show them," she indicated the Monroe's and Mohicans, "how to use them. Sarge, coordinate all of this. Get some sort of schedule re: food, KP. If we continue to stay stable after two days I want to go back to that base. We'll have to find some sort of manual to fly one of the choppers."

"Captain, do you think we're in some sort of parallel dimension or something?" Einstein looked at her.

"I'm not sure. I'm not a theoretical physicist. Nor, do I like science fiction. However, we could be."

"Three," came out of the speakers sounding like HAL

"HAL?" Reaper snorted.

"Yeah, he has a nice soothing voice," Nye chuckled.

"Two minutes."

"Who's Hal?" Cora asked.

"From a movie. If we're still here, we'll pick it up and you can watch it," Einstein offered.

"What is a 'movie'?" Alice asked.

"Those things you saw yesterday on the laptop. Those are movies. Moving pictures."

"Forty-five seconds." Angel and Reaper stood with weapons and headed toward the windows.

"Thirty seconds."

"Fifteen seconds."

"Ten seconds." Einstein and Nye were near the laptops. The screen changed to their location.

"Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Shift change."

Nothing on the screen moved. Angel and Reaper left. Everyone could see them on the wall after a few minutes. They went to the first car and opened the door. Reaper looked in, Angel covered her.

"The same, Captain," her voice came out of the speakers.

The Captain stood up. "Let's move, people. You heard the Captain," Sarge belted out the order. Smith and Jones moved everyone out to one of the SUV's in the parking lot. Alice and Cora were to shell shocked to complain. Chingachgook got in and started touching everything. Jones tried the radio and got a rock station. Smith shrugged her shoulders and turned to everyone. When she saw the look on their faces she found a classical station.

"Now, we're only going to take half an hour, so I'll take Alice and Cora, Jones will take you, Chingachgook and your sons. Now, I'm sure that wearing pants, trousers, will seem uncomfortable to you, but they're much more durable than what you have on and they'll protect your legs better."

They got to the mall and the all clear from Jones before they went in. Everyone went to Macy's so they could be close to each other. Cora started to enjoy trying on the clothes. Alice got interested after she saw some long dresses. Smith felt badly so let her get at least one. Cora got a dress, too. One that stopped at her calves. They tried on the shoes. Cora got some low heeled pumps, Alice flats. Smith also made them get some jeans, more bras, underwear. Cora looked over the makeup. Smith let them play for five minutes while she got some duffel bags for them. They needed to get to a drug store for shampoo, conditioner, brushes, tooth stuff and tampons or pads. She wasn't sure about menstrual cycles and what they did during their time but her time dealt with it much better.

Jones and the others came along when it was almost time to go. Chingachgook was wearing jeans, tennis shoes and a t-shirt. Hawkeye and Uncas were dressed the same.

"We need to go to CVS or Walgreens."

"I know. Let's get going. We only have ten minutes."

"If you have HAL on your phone, no sex for a week. I hated that movie."

Jones laughed while the others looked scandalized.

"No, HAL. 'Mother' from Alien." Smith laughed.

"I love you."

"I love you, too, but we need to go."

They got back in the SUV when Chingachgook asked about mother. "It's from a really scary science fiction movie. We won't show you that. I think Alice would go into a catatonic state. In fact, we'll get her some nice kid's movies."

"Cartoons. Disney. She'll probably go ape shit for that stuff," Jones told him as he looked at Alice. Alice was stroking the dress she got when she looked up at them.

"Do you think we will ever get back home?"

"We're not sure, Alice, but we're going to try really hard to get you back there," Smith told her gently.

"I do not like it here," she said softly. Cora patted her hand.

"I'm sure you don't, Alice, but you may have to stay. If we can stay in a stable time I'll talk to the Captain about dropping you off somewhere that's away from our civilization. You can live like you used too. How does that sound?" Smith offered.

She looked horrified. "By myself?" she whispered.

"Well, anyone that wants to go with you, too. We won't leave because this is what we're used to. We like modern medicine, movies, music," she pointed to the radio, "drinking, dancing, stuff like that."

"I've danced before. I used to when I was in England."

Jones kind of laughed. "Alice, our dancing is a lot more, shall we say, informal from the waltz."

"'Waltz'?"

"We're here," Smith stopped the conversation. Everyone got out and Smith pulled them, Alice and Cora, to the side. Jones picked the lock and told them to stay put. The alarm went off and she followed him. He came back out a few minutes later and told them it was okay. He took the men and went into the store. Smith asked them about their menstrual cycle. Alice cried. Cora looked shocked.

"Look, ladies, there's not a lot of things that we don't talk about in our time. So, periods, menstrual cycles, are normal. Now, I'm not sure what you did in your time, but now we have pads or tampons. Are you both heavy bleeders?" They didn't say anything. Smith sighed.

"Okay, I'll get both for you and show you how to use them. I'll pick up some calendars so you can keep track."

"We don't speak of such things," Cora whispered angrily.

"Well, it's a subject you need to talk about. If you feel uncomfortable, that's too bad. It's a fact of life. If you want to talk about it, you can always come to me. Reaper doesn't get her cycle. She's had her uterus removed."

They looked at her blankly. "She had some issues and got her uterus removed. She can't have children. That's a good thing. She hates kids. Speaking of which, do we need to have a conversation about birth control?"

"What?"

"You don't have to have children if you don't want to. We use birth control to prevent it." They were still in shock about menstrual cycles. "Let's do this: I'll get you pads and tampons. If you decide you want to talk about this stuff you can go to Einstein or myself. Now, we've got to get moving." She left them there in shock. They followed her a few minutes later. She showed them pads and tampons. Alice looked like she was going to faint. Smith waved Jones out of the store while she got them shampoo, conditioner, brushes, combs, tooth paste and tooth brushes. She bagged it up so no one would be embarrassed. She bet that the men would've been embarrassed as well. Smith was cackling like mad when they got back in the SUV.

"What's funny?" Jones asked as he started the car.

"I was just thinking it's a good thing Reaper can't have kids."

He laughed with her. "Yeah. Can you imagine her and Angel having children? Shit, there wouldn't be many people left after that."

"Reaper can't have children?" Chingachgook asked.

"No. She's had her uterus removed. Plus, she's a hot head. Angel's not much better. If they had kids, man, I'd worry for the continuation of human civilization."

"I think Angel's had a vasectomy."

"What is that?" Hawkeye asked.

"Well, he basically got his testicles blocked so he can't implant sperm in a woman."

Questions in eyes. "Let's do this. When we get back we'll have a little anatomy lesson. After the shooting lesson, that is."

They got back to the hotel and headed toward the room they were staying in. Smith and Jones helped the others put their clothes up and products in the bathroom. She saved the pads and tampons for later. She'd get with Einstein on that. They headed back to the conference room in time to hear the countdown. Angel and Reaper stood up and looked out the windows. When the mark had been reached they left again. The screen was on and they could be seen at a different car this time. She picked up a cell phone.

"Still the same date, Captain. This phone's almost dead."

"Bring it in, power it up. It's from before we got here, so I say trust it. Get back here and give your lesson. And Reaper?" the Captain stopped her. "Play nice."

"Yes, sir," she grumbled. She turned to the others and raised her eyebrows. "You look good. How was shopping?"

"The clothes are…odd. As are the shoes," Cora answered.

"Well, there's a saying 'When in Rome do as the Romans do.' Smith and Jones will take you out back for your lesson." She dismissed them, giving her attention back to Sarge, Einstein and Nye.


	3. Chapter 3

Smith and Jones walked them out the back to the range that'd been set up. They had a table with a variety of handguns. Reaper and Angel walked them through the types. Chingachgook picked up a revolver. They showed him a speed loader and how to use it. He loaded the weapon and shot at the target, hitting almost all of the chest area. Hawkeye and Uncas took Glocks. They were shown how to load, engage the safety and shot at the targets. They were both as good as Chingachgook. Cora was given a smaller caliber weapon. Hawkeye stood beside her. She shot the gun, flinching every time. She only hit it once. Alice refused to pick one up even with Cora helping out.

"I said she didn't have to, Reaper," Smith informed her. Reaper raised her eyebrow and started cursing in Navajo. Angel laughed his ass off. Uncas moved closer to Alice. Angel and Reaper had a conversation. She turned back to Alice.

"Okay, Alice, Angel thinks I need to lay off you. I think he's full of shit, but he also pointed out that if you didn't want to learn you didn't have too. And if you die, or cause one of your party to die, that's on you. As long as it's not Chingachgook, we're fine. Now," she picked up a .32. "This is a .32 caliber handgun. It's the smallest thing that's made that was at the base. You load it like this," Reaper showed her, "this is the safety," she pointed it out and explained how to use it. "It sounds like this," Reaper shot it. She took Alice to the target and pointed out how small the bullet holes were.

Jones gathered them up and told them that lunch was ready. They left, Chingachgook choosing to stay with Reaper and Angel as they picked up the weapons and put them away. When they walked into the dining area there were sandwich fixings spread out. Chips were in a bowl and brownies were plated by each seat. The Captain, Sarge, Einstein and Nye were at the top of the table speaking softly. Reaper, Angel and Chingachgook took another smaller table away and sat down. Chingachgook and Angel were going to teach each other their respective languages. Smith, Jones, Alice, Cora, Hawkeye and Uncas sat at the other end. Smith and Jones tried to engage Cora in conversation. Cora started telling them about her life in England. Alice contributed to the conversation when directly asked a question, but other than that she sat in silence. Uncas was next to her just as silent, occasionally looking over at his father. Hawkeye was listening intently to Cora.

"Five minutes to shift change," rang out. Angel, Reaper and Chingachgook continued talking. When the voice reached one minute they went to the other table. Angel and Reaper left and checked another car after the shift change.

"May 4, Captain," Angel told her.

"Alright, go to the conference room," she ordered him. Everyone got up and walked back down the hall. "Anything?" she asked Einstein and Nye.

"No, Captain, atmospheric pressure is reading same."

"More signs of life in the ocean. There's a big pod of something off the coast of San Francisco," Nye reported.

"Farallon Island. Probably seals," Reaper said as they walked back in the room.

"I found ant colonies not far from here."

"Alright, it seems like we're stable. I'll give it one more day then I want to go back to that base and check out the helicopters. Sarge, how's it coming with a barge?"

"Found one sitting out in Lake Superior. I'm working on how to get it out to sea, if we need to, but I'll need to get on it. From the satellite footage it looks deserted and no signs of life. Not even rats or bugs."

"It probably wouldn't have, Sarge. It's not like the 1800's when hygiene was an unheard of word."

"The power situation?" The Captain ignored Reaper.

"Well, there's a back-up generator, full. If we decide to stay here we're going to need to check out the power plant."

"Agree," the Captain said. "All right, knock off for an hour."

"I've worked up a schedule about cooking and cleaning. I didn't include the Monroe's or the Mohicans. If you want to be included let me know and I'll pair you with someone until you can use the appliances without killing yourselves or someone else. Dismissed." The Sarge let them go. Cora walked up to him and said she'd be glad to help. He paired her with Einstein. Alice said she'd help clean up and he paired her with Smith.

Smith and Jones took the men and separated them from the sisters and gave them anatomy lessons. Alice barely made it through without crying. Cora found it interesting. She told Smith that she'd nursed wounded before. "Great. I'll show you the medical kits and get you familiar."

The men were just as shell shocked in the next room. When Jones showed them how a vasectomy was performed, they winced a little. Chingachgook was intrigued with the preciseness of the operation.

He looked around the room then at Jones. "The white man certainly accomplished great things, Jones."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Some, yeah. We didn't treat the Natives well and for that we deserve a spanking."

Chingachgook looked confused. "Angel can tell you more about that, if you want to know."

"Do you know where they are?" he asked Jones. After a minute Jones said they were in the pool. Chingachgook found the pool and saw Reaper and Angel dressed in what they told him were 'swim clothes'. Reaper had on a 'bikini' that showed off a great deal. Angel was in 'swim trunks'.

"You can come in, if you want, Chingachgook," Reaper told him. She was floating on her back, Angel was sitting on the pool deck with his legs in the water.

"I don't have anything…" Angel cut him off.

"We don't care if you strip and go skinny dipping."

"What is 'skinny dipping'?"

"Swimming nude. No clothes." He kind of hunched up.

"I've seen a guy's penis before, so it won't bother me," Reaper chuckled.

Chingachgook took off his shirt, socks, and pants but left on his 'boxers'. The water was warm.

"We need to teach him about the whirlpool," Angel told Reaper.

"Oh yeah." She turned to him. "It's really hot water that bubbles and it's relaxing. I know when I've been working out hard, either in the field, or at home, it's great to sit in."

* * *

Down in the room they were sharing with Smith and Jones, Cora and Alice were laying on the bed. Alice had started crying again and Cora held her until she fell asleep. Cora didn't realize she'd fallen asleep too, until Smith woke them up and told them that dinner was ready.

"Did anything change will we were sleeping?" she asked groggily.

"Nope. We're still in May 4, 2007. The Captain thought it'd be good if you just rested. She's not oblivious that this is hard on you and harder on your sister. You need to keep an eye on her, Cora."

"Alice was sheltered," Cora defended as she sat up.

"And we know this, too. We've read about your time and how women were treated. You seem to be coping a little better, but you won't be able to shelter Alice for long. Just because we've had a respite doesn't mean it'll stay like this."

Cora slumped on the bed. "I know. I'm trying to be strong for her. This is all so…out of our experience."

"Well, now you know how we felt when we were time hopping. Granted, we can take care of ourselves, probably a lot better than you can, but we experienced the same feelings of unreality."

"I find that hard to believe," she bit out.

"Imagine doing your normal routine, when out of nowhere some guy with a sword is chasing you, trying to kill you."

Cora snorted. "I can imagine that. As that man, Magua, that Reaper killed, killed our father. In front of us. He wanted to kill us, too. The head of that tribe he belonged to, the Huron?" she looked at Smith to see if she'd been following the conversation. Smith motioned for her to continue.

"He gave Alice to Magua. He was going to get children on her. To continue his line as my father killed off his family."

Smith cocked her head. "Different."

"Alice wouldn't have survived that."

"I'm sure. He didn't look like a charmer in bed."

Cora winced. "I don't know what you mean."

Smith let it go. "Come on, wake up Sleeping Beauty and let's eat. After dinner, since we seem stable, I'll put in a movie, a cartoon, for Alice to watch."

* * *

Jones had taken Uncas and Hawkeye to the bar and put on a football game that he'd downloaded. They were fascinated. He kept the soda and water flowing, made some popcorn and put it out. They ate distractedly. He had a beer. The Captain had given them some time off. They made their way to the conference room every hour for a time shift check. They seemed to be back on time. Hawkeye had asked about Cora and Alice, but Chingachgook told him they were resting and continued teaching Angel and Reaper the Mohican language. Soon, they were speaking the language as if they grew up with it. Occasionally, they'd stumble. Uncas would stare when he heard his father speak Navajo.

Dinner rolled around and Einstein and Nye had dinner duty. They made spaghetti with meat balls, garlic bread, and salad with a choice of Caesar or French dressing. Smith went to get Alice and Cora. Angel, Reaper and Chingachgook spoke amongst themselves, laughing. Alice was silent and seemed to be plastered to Cora's side. Uncas sat beside her, Hawkeye on the other side of Cora. Einstein and Nye were speaking with the Captain, Sarge, Smith and Jones. They were talking about 'choppers' and 'flying'.

After dinner, Alice helped Smith and Jones clean up while Uncas stood guard. When the voice went off, they, once again, headed for the conference room. Angel, Reaper and Chingachgook looked out the windows. Chingachgook followed them when they went to another car in the parking lot. He stood guard over Angel with Reaper, while he checked the car. Einstein and Nye looked at the cell phone that had been pulled from the other car.

"May 4, 2007. Its eighteen hundred hours, Captain."

"Good. Tomorrow at oh six hundred, Angel and Reaper head toward the base. You have two hours. Find a camera and film everything. Find, if you can, a manual on flying a helicopter. Sarge, you and I are going to head to the local power grid and check it out. It's in sector 16. Einstein, Nye, continue surveillance. Smith and Jones, I want a total inventory of the hotel. Go back to the mall and do your own shopping with Einstein and Nye. Take Uncas, Alice, Cora and Hawkeye with you. We'll meet you back here at 1300 hours."

"What about Chingachgook?" Uncas asked.

"He's free to join Angel and Reaper if he wants or he can go with you." She turned to him. "Chingachgook, it's your choice. Know that if you go with Angel and Reaper you'd only be allowed a handgun."

He nodded his head. "Good. Everyone's off until six hundred tomorrow. I'm heading to the bar and watching that football game you downloaded, Jones." Sarge followed her out. Smith and Jones got up and went back to finish cleaning. Alice joined them. Angel, Reaper and Chingachgook took off. Jones headed toward the kitchen taking the last of the dishes. Hawkeye and Uncas just watched. When Alice learned how to run the dishwasher she looked in awe.

"Come on, there's a game room with a big screen television. We're going to watch a cartoon called Sleeping Beauty." Cora smiled. It was all cued up, so Smith pressed a button on the remote and the movie started. Uncas took the remote and started touching it. When he stopped the movie Jones calmly explained how to start it again. He pressed the button and the movie started moving. Alice was entranced and asked how that was done. Smith showed her how it was moving pictures.

Jones brought out some water while Smith showed Alice, in a rudimentary way, how it was done. The movie was stopped halfway through while Alice tried it. She was a fantastic artist. She drew quick pictures with hands moving. When she got a sequence she showed Cora. Cora's eyes got wide. And so did Uncas'. They heard laughing from the bar and decided to join them. When they got to there they saw Angel and Reaper showing Chingachgook how to throw darts using knives. In a mixture of Mohican and Navajo.

Uncas and Hawkeye walked over and watched. The Captain and Sarge finished the football game, drinking beer. Alice sat down and started drawing again while Smith and Jones were telling Cora about the med kits. Angel grabbed a couple of beers and gave one to Reaper. She took a deep drink than grabbed another knife. She bullseyed it, Angel started talking shit. Chingachgook's eyes got wide until Angel explained about 'talking shit'. That was a hilarious conversation to Chingachgook. Hawkeye kind of laughed and Uncas stood stock still. Reaper turned to him.

"Got something to say, Uncas?" she asked him in Mohican. Chingachgook scolded Reaper in Navajo. She shot him a look and let it go. Alice had stopped drawing and watched the interaction. When Reaper turned away she got up and said she'd like to finish watching the movie. Smith, Cora, Uncas and Hawkeye joined her. Alice played with the remote, Uncas sitting next to her.

"She frightens me," Alice told Uncas quietly.

He didn't say anything. When the movie ended everyone went to bed. Smith motioned for them to be quiet and pointed at Chingachgook sleeping. Smith told Alice and Cora to change in the bathroom. Jones took Hawkeye and Uncas to another room to change and use the shower if they wanted. They both did.

"I'll talk to the Captain about getting you your own room. Whether you want to share with the Monroe's is up to you, but if you go that route you need to watch out for Alice. It's not like any of you are used to the amenities." They looked at him quizzically. "The shower, shampoo, toilet." They nodded. "It might be good for her, actually, the less she interacted with us the better. Anyway, think about it. I'm showering next door. I'm sure you guys can handle it." Jones left. Uncas got in the shower first. It was refreshing 'showering' in warm water. He liked some of the 'amenities'.

"I'm thinking we need our own room, Uncas," Hawkeye said when he started washing his hair. Uncas grunted in agreement. After he was done he got out and started 'drying off with a towel'. Yes, he could live with these 'amenities'.

"Yes, brother, we need our own room."

Hawkeye got in and started washing up. Like Uncas he liked 'showering'. The 'towel' he used to 'dry off' was smoother than anything he'd felt before outside of animal skins. The movie they watched was interesting. He'd have to ask about others. He liked the history of his country. The darts looked fun to play. He wanted to try, just not with Reaper or Angel. They met outside the room they were sleeping in and went inside. It was dark but they found their beds right away. Sleeping on it took some getting used to.

* * *

When the Monroe's woke up the next day Chingachgook, Hawkeye and Uncas were still sleeping. Smith and Jones were not in the room. They got up and went to the bathroom to change clothes when Alice told Cora that her menses had started.

"Okay, Alice, I'll go get something." Cora exited the bathroom and went to find some towels or Smith. She found them in the dining area discussing their next moves. Cora came straight up to Smith and asked to speak with her. Smith excused them and followed Cora out of the dining room. Cora explained the situation.

"Okay. So, I'll have Jones go roust the boys and I'll speak with you and your sister alone. Is that workable?" Cora looked confused but managed to understand after a few minutes.

"Yes, that's 'workable'."

"Jones, emergency. Get the boys for breakfast," Smith told him. He looked at her. "It's that time." He got up and followed them.

"Hey guys, burning daylight. Get up, foods on the table," he shook Uncas and Hawkeye. They got up slowly, Chingachgook already heading for the bathroom to change into another pair of jeans. He liked the softness of the clothes. The 'pajamas' he wore to sleep in were something he puzzled over but decided he liked not sleeping in the others. He wanted to get another 'shower' and would ask Angel to show him again how to use the 'hot' water. When he entered the 'dining room' he asked right away.

"Sure, Chingachgook. Eat then we'll get down to it." Reaper gave him another cup of coffee and he found another 'donut' to eat.

Back in the bathroom Smith tried talking Alice into a tampon but she wasn't doing it. "It's not right to put things…there," she insisted. Smith then told her about pads and how to put them on her underwear. "Check and see if it's covered with blood. Start with once an hour. If so, you take it off and roll it in the package that the next one you use is in." Alice looked frustrated.

"Okay, it's not that hard, sweetie. I'll take some with us when we go shopping again and help you. Now, where's the calendar you got?"

Cora went to find it. "Now, we'll mark May 5th as the day you started. Do you know how many days you had your period before?"

"Five," Alice whispered.

"Great. Then your period should end on the tenth. We're not sure if your biological clock is off so you need to let me know if you don't end your period on the tenth. Then we'll have to go to the hospital and figure something out."

"Hospital?" Cora gasped.

Smith looked at her. "Yes, a hospital. Look, Cora, medicine is more advanced than what you're used to. Remember when I told you that Reaper had her uterus removed? That was done by a woman doctor. Think about the anatomy lesson yesterday. That's a very delicate operation. And as you can see she's still walking around bitchy as ever. She killed Magua and his buddies. By herself. Now she had her uterus removed about three years ago, so modern medicine has a lot going for it."

Cora slumped down to the side of the tub. "I'm having a hard time with all of this, Smith."

"We know, hon. We're doing the best that we can. We're trying to figure out a pattern and a source for all of this. If we find it, and can figure it out, we'll work on getting all of you back in your proper time period, if you want to go."

Alice whispered thank you. "Could you show me how to use the shower again?"

"Sure. Now don't be embarrassed if you bleed on the floor, just wipe it up. And if you want, I can talk to the Captain about getting you your own room. If you want to share with Hawkeye and Uncas that's fine."

"We're not married," Cora shrieked.

"We know. We also have our own societal norms. Remember Reaper and Angel aren't married either and I know, for a fact, that woman is a screamer." They looked at her, puzzled. Smith shook her head. "Long story. The point is, if you feel safe with them I'll try and get you a room with them. I've never read anywhere that if a man and woman share a room they'll have sex."

"It's in the Bible," Alice pointed out.

"Fine. I'll get you a Bible and I want you to point out where it says that. I need to see it in writing. In the meantime, I'll show you the shower. When you're finished you know where the dining room is. The only one's here are you, Alice, you, Cora, Jones, Einstein, Nye, Hawkeye and Uncas. I'm not sure about Chingachgook. We've got to inventory the hotel today so you can help if you want. If not, I've got more movies that you can watch. Are we okay now?"

"Yes. I'll shower after Alice. I'd like to help with the inventory."

Smith smiled. "That's great. When we're done we'll head to the mall. Alice you'll have to come with us. We don't want to separate you from us. It seems like the time shifting has stopped, but if for some weird reason it starts again, we want you to be with us. It'll be safer that way."

Alice nodded and Smith showed her and Cora the shower again. "I'm going to set up a pad for you so when you're dried off just put your underwear on." Alice nodded and Smith left. She got back to the dining room and found it empty. She grabbed her coffee and headed toward the conference room.

Einstein looked up as she walked in. "Everything okay in there?"

"Yeah, Alice started her period."

"Ahh, I don't think people ever really talked about that back then."

Smith snorted. "No, they didn't. I'm surprised the human race was able to advance with outmoded thinking like that."

"I know, right? Anyway, everyone's off. Reaper and Angel took the SUV. They're going to hit Best Buy for a video camera. Chingachgook is here somewhere with Hawkeye and Uncas. He said something about trunks and darts."

"Yeah, Angel and Reaper are corrupting that guy. They were playing darts last night."

Einstein laughed. "I can picture it. I'm surprised she let him touch her knives."

Jones and Nye walked in at that. "Who let who touch whose knives?" Nye asked.

"Oh yeah, you guys missed it. Reaper and Angel were teaching Chingachgook how to throw darts using her knives," Jones said.

"They are going to have that guy as crazy as they are," Nye laughed.

"I think he's the coolest. He's very accepting of what he's seeing," Jones commented when Chingachgook, Hawkeye and Uncas entered the room.

"When the white man first came they had whiskey and muskets. They wore different clothes and spoke differently. This is the same, but different muskets, different clothes, and different language."

"Uh, never thought of it like that," Einstein remarked. "Moving on. Good news. We found more signs of life, but no humans. Nye tried calling the American embassy in Russia, England, France, the Philippines and Australia, no dice."

"Hello, where is everyone?" they heard Cora call out.

"We're in the conference room, Cora, I'll be right there and we can work on breakfast." She turned back to Einstein. "After that we'll be taking inventory. Cora said she'd help, not sure on Alice. If I put movies in will you help her out? And no horror, sci-fi or rom-coms. Keep it kids only."

"Sure, no worries," Nye reassured her. Smith walked back to the dining room. She showed Cora how to use the toaster if she wanted bagels. Alice had tea and toast. When they were finished Smith supervised Alice with the dishwasher. After that Alice wanted to watch more movies. Smith started her off with Alice in Wonderland. It seemed fitting. She told her to ask Einstein or Nye is she needed anything. "But you're smart enough to figure some things out on your own and you'll know when to ask for help. If you want to speak to Cora tell them and they'll get a hold of her for you."

Alice thanked her again. "Alice, if you need help with the other thing you can ask Einstein. She'll help you. In fact, in an hour, go find her and go to the bathroom so you can check your pad." Alice reddened and sat down. She pressed the start and ignored them.


	4. Chapter 4

Smith sighed, Cora patted Alice's arm and they left. Smith and Hawkeye were waiting on them. They started with the front desk area. Cora wrote down all of the 'consumables' that were there. Smith broke the vending machines and they noted everything. Hawkeye asked a million questions about everything and how it worked. Smith and Jones were able to give him barebones explanations. They headed toward the elevator for the second floor. Cora looked around as they went up.

"If we can we'll try and open up the elevator shaft and show you how it works," was the offer.

"No, I'm fine with thinking its magic," Cora said.

"I'd like to see. I'm sure Uncas would, too," Hawkeye took them up on the offer.

"Okay. Where's Uncas anyway?"

"He's with Chingachgook."

"You're dad's cool."

"What does that mean 'cool'?"

"It means he's alright, a good guy."

"You speak strangely. Stranger than the other Yangeze."

"Yangeze?" Jones asked.

"English."

"Ahh. You mean white?"

"Yes, white."

The elevator dinged and they got off. Smith pulled out the keys and they inventoried the room. They finished the entire floor before it was time to go.

"Yet another fascinating trip to the mall." Jones ushered them out to a Lincoln Town Car. Einstein was driving, Nye in the passenger seat, everyone else was in the back. "It's kinda tight, but Reaper and Angel took the SUV."

"I want to get a 'dart board'," Chingachgook requested.

Nye turned in is seat. "Chingachgook, if you're not careful they'll turn you crazy," Nye warned him.

Alice looked frightened. "I like them," Chingachgook said.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you, man."

"Why do you treat us as you do?" Uncas asked.

"You'll have to be more specific, Uncas. How do we treat you?"

"As equals. The Yangeze don't do that."

"White people," Smith offered.

"Oh. Well, you're still people. As you see Angel's Native, my Sarge is black, my Captain's family is originally from the Philippines, my family was originally from Ireland," Nye tried to explain.

"The point is, Uncas," Einstein said, "You are people. Skin color, gender doesn't matter. It never should've mattered. Last time I checked everyone bled red."

Chingachgook nodded his head. "Yes, everyone bleeds red."

* * *

They got to the mall and entered. Einstein and Nye in the front with weapons out, Smith and Jones in the rear. They headed for the sporting goods store to find a dart board and swim trunks for Chingachgook. Jones helped him out. Einstein and Smith took the girls and went back to Macy's. Cora wanted to look at the makeup. They got some clothes, helped Alice with her pad and another long dress. They headed toward the intimates and Einstein was asking Smith's opinion on a sexy bra and panty set. Alice and Cora's mouths opened.

"So, what do you think?" Einstein asked.

"Please, girlfriend. Unless you dressed in code he wouldn't notice."

"That's the point, bitch."

Smith looked it up and down. "Well, if I was a lesbian, I'd do you in that outfit."

Alice shrieked. Cora dragged her away. "I'm getting it."

"Good choice." They walked back toward Alice and Cora continuing their conversation. "We're going to have to do something about birth control. We all can't be lucky bitches like Reaper and not have to worry. My shot's almost up. I'm not sure it hasn't been fucked up with all this time jumping shit."

"I know. I want to go to Walgreens or CVS. They've got to have some pills that fit my prescription."

"Okay, condoms on the menu."

"What are 'condoms'?" Cora asked.

"Men put them on their penis to prevent sperm from entering a woman's uterus and impregnating her."

* * *

At Sears, the guys were looking at jeans, boots and tools. "We need to go to CVS for condoms, Nye," Jones told him.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not sure about her prescription."

"Well, Smith's got the shot, but that's coming due soon and unless we find our way home, or to our time, I don't want any little Jones' running around."

"You don't want to have children?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yeah, but not now. Look at this situation. We don't have any idea if we're settled in this time or not or if this is even our time stream, so no kids right now."

"What is a 'condom'?" Chingachgook asked.

"You put it on your dick so sperm can't implant into a woman's uterus."

"'Dick'?" Uncas questioned.

"Yeah, your cock, the little head," Nye tried explaining.

"Your penis. You know from yesterday's anatomy lesson?" Jones explained.

"When do you put this 'condom' on?" Hawkeye asked.

"Before you have sex."

"Are we going to have to talk about the birds and the bees with you guys?" Nye asked seriously. "Chingachgook, help a guy out. You've had kids. I'm looking at two of them. Didn't you ever talk about masturbating?"

"'Masturbating'?"

"Yeah, you know, jacking off?" Jones imitated jacking off. The men got quiet.

"No, I've never had that conversation with my sons," Chingachgook said quietly.

"Alrighty then," Nye sighed. "When you jack off you know that white stuff that comes out? That contains sperm. Now, when you do that inside a woman, and she's fertile, that's when she becomes pregnant. Now, that lucky son of a bitch Angel doesn't have to worry about any birth control. One because she doesn't have a uterus for eggs to become fertilized and two, his sperm doesn't reach. Those little swimmers are safely tucked into his nut sac."

"And I can see that you don't understand a damn word Nye just said. So, we'll do a down and dirty explanation. If you want more detail let Nye or me know and we'll do a female anatomy lesson to compliment the male one we gave yesterday," Jones stopped for a breath. "We don't want to have kids with the way things are. So, we are practicing birth control. It can be handled in a variety of ways. Now the most perfect way is to not have sex. That's not happening. I mean, have you looked at our women? The next best way is a birth control pill that the woman takes. This prevents any implantation of eggs/sperm combination. There's a shot, with a needle, that a woman can get that lasts three months. We started patrol about two months ago. With the time jumping I can't take the chance her shot hasn't worn off. So, that leaves condoms. Now, you need to put it on your dick when it's hard…" he stopped.

"I'm not sure why I'm telling you this right now. We need to shop. If you have any questions about birth control let us know and we'll help you. I'm not sure if you have any plans that way with the Monroe sisters and it's none of our business unless you want us to know."

Uncas and Hawkeye stared at the floor. Chingachgook stared at the selection of fishing rods they were in front of.

"Yeah, they could be virgins," Nye exclaimed. "Well, not Chingachgook. He has kids, but Uncas and Hawkeye could be."

"I never thought of that," Jones looked at them and shook his head. "You know, I'm not even going to ask because it's none of our business."

"True. Let's get going. Its twelve thirty hours. We need to be back by thirteen hundred. And we still need to stop for condoms."

"You guys good? You need anything else?" Jones asked them.

Everyone shook their heads. Chingachgook held on to his bag with the dart board and swim trunks. Jones and Nye carried bags with jeans, trunks and a couple of nice outfits. They knew that Smith and Einstein were getting some nice clothes. On the off chance they got back or could find something with people in it.

* * *

Things were awkward on the drive to CVS. Everyone got out. The two couples headed to the pharmacy section and were looking through for a birth control prescription that matched Einstein's. Smith and Jones would need to get to a doctor, but ransacked the place anyway on the off chance someone did it themselves and they were in luck. Then they went to the condoms. Alice was red in the face. Cora was looking at something down on the other side of the aisle, Chingachgook looked with them and asked a lot of questions. Hawkeye looked at anything but his father and condoms, Uncas was at the end of the aisle with his back turned toward them. After everyone grabbed what they needed it was a silent ride to the hotel for Alice, Cora, Hawkeye and Uncas. Chingachgook asked more questions and Einstein, Nye, Smith and Jones answered them all.

"Chingachgook, if you want we'll give you the female anatomy lesson, too. Or you can ask Angel and Reaper. If you want to know anything about sex you can ask them. They're pretty straightforward."

"Yeah, and that girl is a screamer," Smith said. Einstein, Nye, Smith and Jones were laughing until they reached the hotel. Chingachgook didn't understand that. When they got out they went straight to the conference room. Einstein and Nye checked their data. Still no change. No signs of life except what they'd found.

They'd put up a map with all life signs and Nye got on the phone again. He called Italy, China, Canada, and most of the South American countries. No one answered. Reaper and Angel walked in and handed the camera over. Einstein plugged it in and started from the beginning. The Captain and Sarge walked in with their own bags.

"Didn't you guys go shopping?" Smith asked Reaper.

"Yeah, our bags are in the car. You should see this nice bra and panty set I got."

"Before we start comparing fuckwear, let's eat and I want reports," the Captain shooed everyone to the dining area. Reaper and Angel cooked some of seafood that was in the freezer. "If the power goes out that shit stinks when it defrosts if you don't cook it right away."

The Captain agreed with that. Everyone grabbed something to put in the table. Plates and utensils by the Captain and Sarge, glasses and napkins by Alice and Cora, Einstein made another salad, while Smith put out the dressing. Nye and Jones grabbed some cheesecake and plated it. Chingachgook took it to the table. Hawkeye and Uncas just watched.

When dinner was done Angel and Reaper gave their report. "We brought back some of the sitreps. We found some interesting things, at least to us. It might or might not mean anything to Einstein and Nye. Choppers fully fueled, like they were going to be flown that day. They have a couple of F16's but no tankers."

The Captain nodded her head and let everyone know what they found at the substation. "Like you, it looks like someone was working there, a truck was there but the battery was dead, so we don't know if it was running or not. No clothes but we found some tools and a laptop. We brought that back, Nye."

"Okay, Sarge. I'll get on it after dinner. We put up a map of what we've found and it hasn't changed much from yesterday. We did a 50 mile radius with intense scanning and sat pictures. I tried calling some embassies, China, Russia, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, South American countries. The phones ring but no one answers."

"Smith and Jones, inventory?" Sarge asked.

"Well, we got through the front office, and the first floor." The Captain raised her eyebrow. "Some things came up and then we went shopping."

"I got a 'dart board' Angel and Reaper. I'd like to try again."

"Sure, Chingachgook. We can do that after the last briefing of the night," Angel said.

"Did you get trunks for the pool?" Reaper asked.

"Yes, I got those. They're not much different than boxers, like you said."

"Great."

Uncas looked at his father and Reaper. "Back to the matter at hand," Sarge spoke up.

"Yes, clothes and laundry. I'm assuming that everyone got most of what they needed while they were out. I want everyone to stay close until those pictures and everything that was brought back is analyzed. Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye, I'm assuming that you are outdoors most of the time. If that's insensitive let me know. So, if you would like to take turns surveilling the surrounding area that would be fine. Alice and Cora, I'm not as versed on what women did in the 1700's as I am on Native peoples. Your assistance with cooking and helping clean-up is appreciated. We'll take time to help you with movies and so forth, but if there's something that you need please tell Sarge and he'll try and arrange it for you. You are more than welcome to go outside, but I do ask that you stay near the hotel. I'll have someone mark the limits I'm comfortable with. If you think it's not enough please discuss it with Sarge. Now, Sarge and I have clean-up, so no discussions about clothes unless it's done in here. Dismissed."

Angel and Reaper got up and took their dishes to the kitchen then headed out to get their bags. Einstein and Smith went to grab theirs. Alice, Cora, Uncas, Hawkeye and Chingachgook headed to their room. Chingachgook got his dart board out and looked at his swim trunks.

"We should to the pool," he suggested, "while they talk about clothes and 'fuckwear'."

"I'd like to sit with them, if you don't mind," Cora responded before she left the room. Alice looked shocked but followed.

"Uncas and Hawkeye?"

"Well go with the Missus Monroe, father."

"To protect them, father," Uncas reinforced Hawkeye's request. Chingachgook shrugged his shoulders and took the dart board to the bar. He tried several places until he found the perfect one and put it on the floor of where he wanted it hung then went back to the dining room. Finding it empty he went to the conference room. The 'video' of the base was on. He looked in awe at the 'choppers' and 'F16's'. Yes, the white man had accomplished many things, but he preferred his own time. He hoped that he'd be able to go back. Maybe to when there were more of his people. He'd ask Angel and Reaper. The Captain and Sarge gave the 'laptop' to Nye and he put it up on the screen. Chingachgook didn't understand any of it, but Einstein and Nye seemed to. Along with the 'sitreps' that Angel and Reaper brought back.

They cycled through the base's own sat images. Chingachgook didn't understand any of it and it was unlikely that Uncas or Hawkeye did either. The Monroe sisters were talking amongst themselves.

After a while the Captain closed everything down. "We've been here for two days and with the other information it looks like it's settled for now. Einstein and Nye, I want a comprehensive report by fourteen hundred hours tomorrow. Smith and Jones, finish the inventory of the hotel. Angel and Reaper, mark off a three hundred yard radius in all directions for the Monroe's then help with the inventory. Things are looking up and I say we celebrate what we can."

"You mean not being chased by samurai?"

"Shitting Greeks?"

"Dinosaurs?"

"All of the above. Report to the dining room by oh seven hundred. Dismissed."

Sarge halted them before they got too far. "Why don't we set up in the bar? I'll bring a laptop and you can get your songs from my vast collection." There was much chatter as they left. Angel and Reaper went over to Chingachgook and offered to set him up with movies. "We want to party a little, so say in a couple of hours we'll kick everyone else out and play some darts."

"Sounds good," he said.

"WooHoo, Chingachgook, you're starting to sound modern," Reaper gave him a big smile when they walked to the game room. They showed him the movies they had picked out 'Dances with Wolves' and 'Thunderheart'. "Both of those movies feature Native Americans. They're not the best, but Thunderheart is a little more true to reality as far as dealing with white people," Angel explained. He showed him how to use the DVD player.

"We'll come get you when the clock says 10," Reaper pointed to the clock on the wall.

"Yeah, and you might want to keep the others occupied. Our modern ways can be a little…unsettling until you get used to them," Angel advised.

"Okay, I'll see you at ten."

"If you need anything, water, snacks, you know where everything is. We ask that you clean up after yourself."

Chingachgook started at them blankly.

"Right. Forget I said that," Reaper apologized and they left soon after. They did poke their heads in, everyone was in the room, and showed Chingachgook their outfits.

"See, unsettling," Angel pointed out.

Reaper was in a short blue dress that ended at the middle of her thighs. It didn't have sleeves and there was a piece of the dress that circled her neck. She had on two inch heels. When she turned around the back was cut out and Chingachgook could see a figure drawn on her skin.

Angel was dressed black pants and a white shirt. His lay half way down his back. He had on shiny shoes of a kind that Chingachgook had seen in the store that day. They hadn't looked comfortable.

Alice, Cora, Hawkeye and Uncas stared at them. Cora noted the 'make-up' on Reaper's face. She looked beautiful. Alice couldn't believe how short her dress was. And the back? No sleeves? She was practically nude.

Uncas and Hawkeye were silent. If this is how modern women dressed they were a little unsettled at the thought.

"Most unusual dress," Chingachgook murmured. They told him they'd be back at ten, dressed in their normal clothes. Chingachgook started the 'DVD' of 'Dances with Wolves'. A most interesting tale of that tribe. Uncas and Hawkeye looked intrigued at it and kept asking him questions. "I don't know, Uncas, we did not go that far." Cora liked 'Stands With a Fist'. Alice was horrified by some of it, but watched quietly. After that was over she snuck down to the bar and looked in. The music was ugly, she couldn't find another word for it, and what they called dancing was unseemly. They were close to each other. Smith and Jones were kissing. He had his hand on her…bottom. She turned around to go back when she saw Cora. Cora peaked in and looked shocked and intrigued. Chingachgook cleared his throat.

"Angel and Reaper said you would not like what you saw. Come. They have provided another 'movie' for us to watch." He turned and expected them to follow, which they did. Right before it ended Angel and Reaper came in. Dressed in what they'd been used to seeing. Combat fatigues and boots.

"Here," Reaper gave keys to Cora and Alice. "The Captain says, if you want, you can have your own room. You're next door to Smith and Jones. If you need anything just knock on their door."

Angel gave a key to Chingachgook and told him he could have his own room if he wanted, but he said it in Navajo. "You can ask your sons to stay with you or they can stay with the Monroe's. We don't care."

"If you want to be by yourself we'll get them their own room," Reaper said as she wrinkled her nose.

"You're next to us," Angel pointed out.

"Does this mean I'll hear you scream?" he asked in Navajo.

"That bitch," Reaper spit out. Angel bent over laughing. He stood up after a few minutes still chuckling.

"Babe, you know she's just jealous. And yes, Chingachgook, if I'm doing my job right of satisfying my woman, you'll hear screaming," he replied.

Chingachgook started laughing. "Now I know what that means. I was like you when my wife was alive, Angel. Except for the screaming part. That was not encouraged."

"Uncas and Hawkeye, we have our own room. We're next door to Reaper and Angel. I am going to play 'darts' and 'kick some ass'. Please join us," he said in English. They left and went to the bar. It looked spotless and the dart board was set up where Chingachgook had put it. Reaper got out the darts and gave them to him.

"You need to have a few warm up's first, dude. They're not as heavy as knives." They heard the Monroe's pass by the bar. Hawkeye and Uncas watched as their father threw the 'darts'. He explained 'scoring' and proceeded to almost beat them both. After another hour they went to bed, while the Mohicans stayed up and played darts.

"I like this game, father," Hawkeye commented. Uncas nodded his head in agreement.

"Yes, if we get back to our time we should try and play again." The boys got quiet.

"Do you think we will?" Uncas asked after a few minutes. Chingachgook walked behind the bar and grabbed some water. He put them on the bar and his sons joined him.

"I do not know, Uncas. I am going to ask in the morning. The Captain seemed quite pleased with the results of their outings."

"I, for one, want to do this 'surveillance' tomorrow. I'm tired of being inside." Hawkeye took a drink.

"Yes, we should get out. If we are forced to stay here we need to know more about the area." Chingachgook walked out of the bar shutting off the lights as he went, his sons following him. They walked into their new room. All of their stuff and been laid on beds. While they were putting everything away as they'd been taught by Smith and Jones they heard sounds coming from the other side of the wall. Chingachgook didn't pay any attention and went to shower. When he came out Hawkeye and Uncas were staring at the wall. Chingachgook didn't hear anything and chose one of the beds. There was a pull out sofa that he'd noticed before he went to the bathroom. Uncas ran to the bathroom to shower.

He could still hear her moaning and screaming in his head. He 'jacked off' before washing his hair. He finished, dried off and put on a pair of boxers for bed. He hadn't liked sleeping with clothes on but the sleeping arrangements hadn't been what he was used too. If they did that every night he didn't know how much sleep he'd get. He'd have to be out long tomorrow. And run a lot. When he got out of the bathroom Hawkeye was waiting impatiently. Uncas took the other bed. It was comfortable. More comfortable than the other he'd slept on. He fell asleep instantly. He didn't even hear Hawkeye.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Chingachgook found them in the dining room. He got his own coffee and spooned some eggs on his plate after some prompting from Reaper. Before he took a bite he looked at Smith.

"I know what you meant by screaming. She was very quiet." Everyone broke into laughter. Reaper gave him a thumbs up. "It means, good job, man," she explained in Mohican. After they were finished Sarge gave them their orders while he finished his coffee.

"How are you holding up, Chingachgook?" The Captain looked at him intently but allowed Sarge to take the lead.

"This is an unusual situation, but I believe I'm 'holding up' rather well," he replied.

"Good. Did you need anything? Except to get back to your own time? We're working on it, so don't think us having you go to the mall means we're sitting our ass."

"Sarge, I know you are 'working on it'. Angel and Reaper explained. I do not understand anything you say when you talk 'choppers', 'refueling', and 'sitrep', but I understand that all of that means something to you. You want to go home. We want to go home. I do not think you are 'sitting on your ass'."

Sarge gave him the gun he first shot. "Here. If you go out, go armed." He gave him some speed loaders. "Did your sons want guns?"

"Yes, I think it would be better if they were armed. They like the 'Glocks'."

"Fine. Find me when you're ready to leave. I'll get them." Sarge and the Captain left the room. Chingachgook finished his breakfast and took the dishes into the kitchen, putting them in the dish pit. When he came back out, Uncas and Hawkeye were entering. They got coffee and took some eggs from the platter.

"Try the bacon. It's good." He pointed it out. "When you're finished we're surveilling the area for the Captain." He walked down to the conference room and found Sarge. Sarge have him the Glocks and a couple of 'magazine's' for them. When he made it to the 'lobby' both his sons were dressed as they usually were, buckskins, moccasins and normal shirts. He handed over the Glocks and they walked out the door. The walked around the 'hotel' then they started walking north. After a couple of miles Chingachgook pulled out some water bottles and passed them around.

"Some of the 'amenities' I could get used to," Hawkeye remarked.

"The shower," Uncas and Chingachgook said together.

"Yeah. I like the shower."

* * *

Back at the hotel Alice and Cora woke up. When they returned to Smith and Jones room they found a note saying all of their belongings had been moved next door. They walked in and put everything away as they'd been taught and went to sleep. Cora helped Alice with her menstrual pad before going to bed. When they woke up they had no idea what time it was. They washed, like they used to, dressed in some of the new odd clothes and made their way to the dining area. Alice made tea, Cora had coffee. Fresh eggs and bacon had been laid out. The Captain came in they were almost finished. She poured a fresh cup of coffee for herself and sat down across from Alice, kitty cornered to Cora.

"So," she said after she took a drink of coffee. "How are you doing?"

Alice looked like a deer caught in a trap. Cora answered.

"We're doing as well as can be expected, Captain, considering the circumstances."

She nodded her head. "That's good. How are my men treating you?"

"Your men?" Alice asked.

"Yes, Alice, my men. I don't consider their sex when speaking about them. They're my men."

"Smith seems very friendly. We haven't really spoken with Einstein." Cora stopped speaking.

"Nye and Jones?"

"We haven't really interacted with them. They're…pleasant."

She nodded her head again. "Let Sarge know if you need anything. We've had this conversation with Chingachgook. I want you to know that what we're doing is important. We need to figure this out, correctly, before we do anything else."

"Like planning a needlepoint. You do not want to get anything wrong at the beginning or all the stitches must be removed before you can start over."

"I've never heard it put quite that way before, Alice, but I'll take your word on it. I've never done needlepoint in my life and I wouldn't really know what it was if it stared me in the face."

Alice started eating again. The Captain turned to Cora. "Your help is appreciated. Smith told me that you've nursed wounded patients in the past, Cora?"

"Yes, when we were at Fort William Henry. The fighting was intense. The French were shelling the fort. I assisted in the infirmary."

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like for Einstein to go over the med kits we have. They're very different from what you're used to, I'm sure."

"That's fine, Captain."

"Good. Now, Smith has clean up duty, Alice. If you're still interested in helping I'll let her know to find you. Cora, I'll have Einstein find a med kit and meet you outside if you like. It's a nice day out. Alice can join you after she finishes, if she wants."

"Where are Nathanial, Uncas and Chingachgook?"

"Nathanial? You mean Hawkeye?" Cora nodded.

"They left earlier to do some surveillance. Basically, they wanted to get the hell out of here. I don't blame them."

"Alice, did you still want to help Smith?" Alice nodded her head.

The Captain got up and said she'd see to it then left the room. They finished breakfast in silence. Smith came in and grabbed Alice. She took her into the kitchen, supervised Alice with the dishwasher. They put all the dishes away after they were dried.

"Thanks, Alice. I'll finish up. I think I saw Cora outside. Angel and Reaper set up tables and chairs in the back. Or, if you want, I can show you how to use the DVD player and get you some movies to watch." Smith smiled gently at her, putting her at ease.

"Why did you move our things to another room?" Alice couldn't believe that she'd asked that question. She was never that forward.

"A couple of reasons. One, I wanted to make love with my husband last night and unlike Reaper I don't particularly like having someone overhear. Two, you and your sister are bright enough to ask for help if you need it. You've been here a few days and understand, basically, how things work. I didn't mean to upset you. Did you want to stay in our room?"

Alice pinked up when Smith said 'make love with my husband.' No one had ever spoken to her like that. No one she knew ever spoke like that period. Alice shook her head but Smith looked like she didn't believe her.

"Well, if you want to stay, we'll work something out for however long we're here. Now, outside or inside?"

"Outside would be fine."

Smith smiled. "Okay. I'm going to get you gals some water. If you need anything else you know where it is." She grabbed some bottles from the refrigerator and motioned with one hand to go out the door. Alice remembered where it was so Smith followed her without saying anything. She dropped off the bottles and left.

"Are you alright, Alice?" Cora asked.

"Yes. I believe I'm learning the 'dish pit' machine quite well."

Cora pushed some pads of paper over to her. "The Captain brought these out. She saw your 'cartoon' and was impressed."

Alice smiled and looked at the different color inks that had been left with the paper. She found the Captain to be intimidating. Almost as intimidating as her father. She tried to imagine what would've happened if he'd lived. Nothing would've changed. She still would've been given to Magua, her father sold back to the English. This, while wildly different from what she was used to, was better than Magua.

Alice drew a field of flowers swaying in the wind. It was time consuming so she didn't much pay attention to Einstein and Cora as they talked about 'med kits'. When lunch was called she steered clear of Reaper as the woman was telling Angel to 'give me your fucking laundry'. Alice didn't really understand some of the words, some she did. She understood the cursing. She'd heard some of the stable lads speak like that. She saw Angel pinch her…bottom and scold her in that odd language they'd taught Chingachgook. Alice looked intently at her plate. Some of the food was good. She'd liked the seafood that Reaper and Angel had cooked last night. Maybe she would ask Sarge if she could help Smith with cooking.

Alice went to find Smith. She looked all over the floor and couldn't find her. She made her way to the conference room and found Sarge staring at a 'laptop', muttering to himself. She waited a few moments and when it didn't look like he noticed her she opened her mouth to speak.

"Something I can help you with, Alice?" He lifted his head up and looked at her. Alice shrank back a little. She had never been so close to an African. A few of the gentry employed one, but she her experience was little. He was so big.

"I was looking for Smith. I would like some instruction on how to use the 'DVD player'," she squeaked out. He smiled at her. His teeth were so white against his dark skin.

He got up and moved toward her and she shrank back. He stopped about halfway. "Why don't you go to the game room and I'll have Smith find you, okay?" Alice nodded her head quickly and left to go to the 'game room'.

A few minutes later Smith came in the room. She gave Alice instructions and watched her follow them a few times. She smiled at Alice when it looked like she could handle it. Alice was pleased with herself. Smith told her to 'stick with movies that look like cartoons'. "The only 'modern' type movies we've let you watch were 'Dances with Wolves' and 'Thunderheart'. No horror, rom-coms, or sci-fi for you."

Alice didn't understand any of that, but she knew what Smith meant. She'd liked 'Sleeping Beauty'. 'Alice in Wonderland' had been confusing. She picked up 'The Little Mermaid', opened the 'tray', put the 'movie' in with the writing on the top then pressed the button to 'close' the 'tray'. She sat on the sofa and pressed 'play' on the 'remote'. The movie started and she was enchanted the entire time. She liked 'Sebastian' and his horrible accent.

The 'movie' was almost over when Cora found her. "Where have you been, Cora?" she asked. After lunch Cora had left her.

"I was looking over all of the 'med kits' they have. Alice, all of this 'modern' is very intriguing."

"Do you think you will stay with them, Cora?" Alice was afraid that she might do that. Cora was more adventurous and outgoing than Alice. Even when father was killed she'd had a presence of mind to take one of the pistols. And she'd used it. If Cora stayed, Alice would be on her own. She'd never been alone in her life. There had always been someone around to take care of her.

"Well, it is tempting, but if you weren't comfortable, then I would stay with you."

Alice sighed in relief. "Thank you. I admit that some of the 'modern' things are interesting, you must watch this 'Little Mermaid' movie, but I'm very frightened of most of it."

Cora sat down next to her on the sofa and pulled Alice to her. "Yes, some of it is frightening. The weapons, for one."

Alice shivered. When Reaper showed her that gun…yes, the weapons were more frightening than what she'd been exposed to. They sat quietly for a moment before Smith called them for dinner.

If Cora remembered correctly is was her turn to make dinner. She and Alice went to the dining room and sat down. She noticed right away that Angel and Reaper weren't there. Chingachgook, Uncas and Nathanial walked in just as they were getting ready to eat. Everyone took the places of where they'd been sitting. After a few moments Cora realized that they weren't coming. Chingachgook looked at the empty places then at the Captain, but didn't speak. He gave his 'report' to the Captain and Sarge.

"Thanks, Chingachgook. While sat is fine, eyes on the ground is better." He nodded his head in their direction. It had been refreshing to get outside. The types of buildings were confusing. The amount of cars, well, that was hard to comprehend. It seemed as if the 'modern' people spent all of their time in a box of some kind.

Uncas looked at the places that Angel and Reaper usually sat at. When they didn't appear he wondered if something had happened. Hawkeye looked as well, then met they eyes of his father and brother. He knew they were capable fighters, so something must have happened that the Captain and Sarge were not telling them.

Dinner was quiet amongst the Mohicans and the Monroe's. They listened to the others, but as usual, didn't understand most of it. After the dinner was over the Captain asked for them to meet in the conference room at nineteen thirty hours.

"She means 7:30 pm," Einstein interpreted as she got up to clean the table. Nye stayed and helped while the other soldiers followed the Captain. Alice and Cora chose to stay and help with clean up. Cora tried to subtly ask questions. Einstein and Nye brushed them off. Cora was pleased with her handling of the 'dish pit' machine. Much better than what they had in her time. After clean-up they went to the game room and Alice started the 'Little Mermaid' for her, although both women were distracted. Cora kept glancing at the clock on the wall. Time seemed to crawl. At 7:25 they made their way to the conference room.

Alice walked in with Cora to see the Captain and Sarge at the head of the room. She was seated, he was standing in front of the screen. Chingachgook, Uncas and Nathanial were at the other end of the table. Cora headed in that direction, followed by Alice. When everyone was seated the Sarge started speaking.

Einstein pulled up a sat picture of building. Nye was on the other laptop. Smith and Jones were seated on either side of them.

"I know you've noticed that Angel and Reaper aren't here. We're going to run you through what we know. If you have questions, please save them until after the explanation. We'll try and answer them all.

"Before we said that we'd found some unusual activity around Houston, Texas. That's south of 'Can-tuk-ee' or as we call it, Kentucky." Nye put up a map.

"This is a map of America. This," Sarge pointed to an area, "is Kentucky. This," he pointed to another spot on the map, "is the area of the unusual activity. This city is called Houston, Texas. We found some unusual readings that we mentioned the other day. After Reaper and Angel came back from the base with the sitreps, that means situation reports, and the Captain and I came back from the substation with the laptop, we had to analyze everything. What we found is that the Marines, that's us, our outfit, along with the Army, Navy and Air Force, other branches of soldiers, were getting some disturbing reports of this area.

"The electric company, the company that provides the electricity for the lights and so forth, was also experiencing some odd situations. We don't know what this all means, but we've sent Angel and Reaper to check this area out and report back. There are still some odd readings, uh, odd information, coming from there. We can't get good intel from here so we sent them to check it out."

"How long will it take for them to reach 'Houston'?" Chingachgook asked.

"That depends. They've taken the SUV and that burns a lot gas, fuel, to make it run. It also depends on the state of the roads, how many are blocked with other cars that type of thing. It shouldn't take them longer than a couple of days."

Sarge pointed to where they were and where Angel and Reaper were going. Uncas' eyebrows shot up. Such a far distance and so little time to reach it. Yes, some modern things were interesting.

"Is it dangerous?" Cora spoke up.

The Captain looked at her. "It's possible, which is why I sent those two."

"Remember what I said about how Reaper would probably ride that T Rex to the base?" Jones reminded her.

"No, but it was very confusing at the time."

"Needless to say, Cora," Sarge interrupted, "these two are the best of the best. They've never lost a person or fucked up a fire fight in their career."

"'Fire fight'?" from Chingachgook.

"Yes, on the ground fighting with other high powered weapons against others."

"If it helps you sleep a little easier, Cora, both of their names mean death," the Captain supplied.

"The Grim Reaper and the Angel of Death," Smith spelled it out. Alice shrunk back a little.

"Now, they'll check in every four hours. You're more than welcome to sit in, if you like, other than that we haven't a time shift change for four days. With the appearance of other life, outside of ourselves, I feel pretty confident that whatever happened leveled off. You can go on about a 'normal' routine."

"Any other questions?" Sarge asked.

Everyone shook their heads no. "Again, please stay close, no more than four miles in any direction. If something happens we want to all be together. Dismissed." Everyone filed out of the room. Cora and Alice headed to their room. Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye headed to the bar. They were playing darts when Jones showed up.

"Chingachgook, Angel and Reaper told me to tell you that you better get the practice, while you can, with darts." He walked to the bar and got a beer.

"Good advice. I want to kick their asses when they come back." He threw a dart and hit a bullseye.

"And good luck with that, man. The only person ever to beat them is Marcus."

"Who is Marcus?" Hawkeye asked.

"Their tattoo artist."

"'Tattoo'?" Uncas turned to him.

"Yeah, marks in the skin," he pulled up his sleeve and showed them a rose up on his bicep.

"Markings. Some people do this," Uncas told him.

"Angel and Reaper have these tattoos?" Hawkeye wanted to know.

"Yep."

Chingachgook turned with a dart in his hand. "Reaper had a figure on her skin."

Jones lifted an eyebrow. "You saw that? Man, I hope you didn't think about touching it."

Chingachgook shook his head no.

"Well, her entire back is covered with a Grim Reaper figure. Angel's is the same, but his is obviously an angel. Anyway, the guy that drew them, Marcus, has been the only person I know of to ever beat them at darts. Pisses Angel off. Reaper finally learned to let it go, because, man, can she hold a grudge. Doesn't matter, they take him on together, they still lose. I remember one time, we were over their house for a party. Marcus comes in, he's this little, short, bald headed guy, beat the crap out of Angel. Like by forty points. He was steaming. I thought for sure that Marcus was going to end up through a window. The little fucker just held out his hand, they bet on the game, and wiggled his fingers," Jones showed them.

"Reaper told him to bring it, double or nothing. Marcus cleaned her clock. It was the first time they'd played him. So, good times." Jones drank more beer. "Now when they play, they lose by less than ten. I tell them to count that as a win." Jones chuckled. "They don't like that advice."

"Interesting people you associate with," Chingachgook told him.

"Can be. We give each other shit, but we're family, so you gotta take the shit from family, right?"

Smith came in and grabbed a beer, taking another seat at the table. "Telling them about Marcus?" she laughed.

"Yeah. The party when they first played him."

"I know, right? I thought for sure Marcus would've been pitched through the window." She turned to Chingachgook, "If you can beat them at darts we've got to introduce you to Marcus. That would be something, you and Marcus against Reaper and Angel? Shit, I'd sell tickets."

"'Sell tickets'?" Uncas wanted to know.

"Yeah, in modern times when someone puts on a show, like sports, music, magic, they sell tickets to people that can buy them. It's how they make a living."

"Well, how are y'all doing?" Smith asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Fine." Chingachgook turned to the dart board and threw another. Uncas was up next. He was getting good at the game. He and Chingachgook were tied. Hawkeye was sitting, looking at their drinks.

"When will Angel and Reaper 'check-in'?" Uncas asked.

Jones looked at his watch. "Five minutes. Did you want to sit in?"

"Yes," Chingachgook declared and left the room to go to the conference room.

Smith and Jones looked at each other. "Well, alrighty then. Let's go."

* * *

In the conference room the Captain and Sarge were seated next to Einstein and Nye. The screen was black then signaled and incoming call.

"Gotta love Skype," Nye murmured.

Angel's face appeared on the screen. Legs were seen in the background.

"Angel, sitrep?"

"Captain, there are a lot of abandoned cars on the freeway. We made it to Columbus and refueled. We haven't seen any one. We've heard birds, saw some chipmunks, but nothing other than that. We're staying at the Hilton, same sit. No one around. Doesn't look like anyone's been around."

"Fine. Get some shuteye. Take eight if you need. I want you in Houston no later than the 8th." They heard snorting.

"We'll be there before then. We'll check in again before we take off. We'll leave by oh six hundred and check in at oh ten hundred."

"Good work and stay frosty."

"Yes, sir." The screen went black again.

"They made better time than I thought they would," Sarge remarked.

"That's why they're the best." The Captain looked up. "As you can see, they're down for the night. They'll check in a six am and again at ten am. You are welcome to watch, if you like," she told the Mohicans. Chingachgook nodded and they left the room.

* * *

"Chatty bunch, aren't they?" Jones said.

"I like them," Einstein told everyone that was left.

"We aren't going to be able to get them home, are we?" Smith looked Sarge.

"We don't know, but if it comes down to us going home or them going home? We're choosing us. I think Chingachgook knows this," Sarge replied.

"He does," the Captain announced. "He's not stupid. It would be unfortunate, but I think Angel and Reaper will do just fine with him."

"What about Cora and Alice?" Nye asked.

"Cora will do well, after a while. I'm not sure about Alice. I mean, we'd almost have to put her in a commune or something like that," Smith put her hands flat on the table then pushed away.

"Well, before we go making plans let's just see what happens. If it comes down to we only have one choice we choose us and they'll have to deal with it." The Captain stood with Sarge.

"Alright, people, you know the drill. Breakfast at oh five-thirty," he ordered then they left.


	6. Chapter 6

Breakfast the next morning was bagels and donuts. They were getting stale and had to be eaten. The eggs would last, but a grocery store run would be in order. The Captain asked Chingachgook to go with Einstein and Nye.

"If Angel and Reaper trust you to protect them, I do too. You don't have to go if you don't want."

"I'll go."

"Great. I'm having Smith and Jones do a house to house. Maybe Uncas would like to go with them? That would leave Hawkeye to finish up surveillance. If that's acceptable."

"I will speak with them about it and let you know."

"Just tell Sarge and he'll get their duty assignments."

He nodded his head and went to find his sons. He didn't like splitting up, but what the Captain said made sense. They could compare notes after they returned from the various 'duty assignments'. If even this small thing they do would help them he wanted to do it.

He found them in the room, Uncas had showered and Hawkeye was in the shower.

"The Captain would like some assistance today. I'm going with Einstein and Nye to the 'grocery store' for more supplies. She wanted you to go with Smith and Jones on a 'house to house' and Nathanial to finish surveillance. If you choose to do this, see Sarge and he'll give you your 'duty assignment'," Chingachgook told him in Mohican.

Uncas got dressed in his regular clothes. "I choose to go with Hawkeye, father."

"Choose to go with me where?" Hawkeye questioned when he left the bathroom.

"The Captain has asked for our help today. I'm going with Einstein and Nye to the 'grocery store' for supplies. She had offered Uncas to go with Smith and Jones on a 'house to house'. She would like for you to continue surveillance, if you choose."

Hawkeye and Uncas communicated silently. "I don't like them splitting us up, father," Hawkeye offered his opinion.

"They aren't, my son. If I were to tell Sarge that I wanted to go with you, he would be fine with it. These Yangeze, while strange, seem to tell the truth."

"I prefer to surveille with Hawkeye," Uncas said again.

"Fine, tell Sarge. I will see you both later," Chingachgook left and went to find Einstein and Nye. They were waiting in the lobby for him. Uncas and Hawkeye watched.

"Cool. We were just getting ready to find you. The Captain got you squared?"

Chingachgook looked puzzled. "Yes, she has me 'squared'."

"Good deal. She knew that if Reaper and Angel trusted you then she could, too. Now," they walked out the hotel to the Lincoln Town Car. "A grocery store is great. They have everything you want."

He got in the back while Nye drove and Einstein sat in the passenger seat. He watched out the window at the abandoned cars and the empty looking houses. They pulled up to a large building with sign on the top.

"We're here. This is Giant Eagle," Nye announced.

"'Giant Eagle'? A giant eagle drops off 'grocery'?" Einstein grabbed a cart from near the door, while Nye picked the locks.

"No, that's the name of the company that runs the store." The doors opened and an alarm went off. Einstein, Nye and Chingachgook pulled out weapons while advancing through the store. Einstein held up her fist and they stopped. She entered another room and after a few minutes, the alarm stopped. Then she turned on the lights. When Chingachgook turned around he was speechless.

There were long rows of food, most he'd never seen before. Nye grabbed another cart and they started in the dairy section. Chingachgook put his weapon away and touched pretty much everything. He asked hundreds of questions and they answered every one. He helped them put the milk in the freezer, so it wouldn't spoil, as they explained about expiration dates. He saw a brightly colored bag of chips, Einstein called them 'Fritos' that he grabbed. Nye told him to go ahead. He opened and tried one. It was an unusual taste.

"It's better with dip, I think," Nye said. He picked up some sour cream and onion soup mix. "I'll make it for you. It's what I normally eat when I'm playing poker."

"'Poker'?" As another chip went in his mouth.

"It's a card game and you bet on your cards. I'll show you, if you want."

"No, you should learn from Jones, Chingachgook. That guy is a card shark," Einstein butted in.

"So, are you saying I suck at poker, Einstein?"

"You're not as good as him, is what I'm saying." Nye looked upset. "But, you do run the Monopoly board." Nye smiled.

"Thanks, honey."

* * *

At the hotel Uncas told Sarge he wanted to surveille with Hawkeye.

"Okay. My men are in this sector," he pointed to an area, "so if you hear unusual sounds it may be them." They finished breakfast then left in that direction. They were silent until they reached a house with a door open. Doors to the left had red marks on them. They saw Smith and Jones exit, close the door and mark it with red. Hawkeye and Uncas followed them. After the third house they didn't exit. Uncas and Hawkeye waited. When they stood up they heard the sound of the M16.

"Hands on your head and drop any weapons," Smith barked out.

They turned around and she slumped. "Fuckwits," she waved her hand in the air and Jones stepped out with his weapon pointed at them. He dropped it to his side and shook his head.

"I could've killed you. We made you three houses ago. Why didn't you just come up to us?" she asked. She and Jones brushed by them and back to the house. They closed it up and painted a red x on it with spray paint they'd gotten. Jones turned around as Hawkeye and Uncas were still standing there.

"You coming or what?" Uncas and Hawkeye followed them.

"What we're doing is called a house to house. Basically, searching all the houses. We're looking for signs of life. Be careful, if you're coming. One house had a dead rat and the whole place stunk."

Uncas and Hawkeye followed to the next house. "Sarge, Uncas and Hawkeye are with us," Jones said to no one. He and Smith stood on either side of the door. He knocked, after a minute he rang the bell. When nothing happened, Smith grabbed Uncas to her side, Jones did the same thing with Hawkeye. Smith kicked the door in and moved back. Jones entered and moved to the side, Smith following him to the other side. Uncas and Hawkeye stayed where they were. Smith pointed up, Jones got on the other side of the bannister and waited while she climbed the stairs. When she disappeared he started up. Uncas and Hawkeye came in but stood by the door. They heard 'clear' from Smith twice, Jones three times. They came back down the stairs, weapons drawn and saw them standing in the doorway. Smith shook her head and motioned them behind her. Jones walked into the living room, looking under the sofa and chairs. He pointed toward the back and she turned. Nye pointed to them and behind him then followed Smith to the back. In the kitchen she stopped at the doorway while he entered and opened cabinets. He pointed to a wall and she advanced. She walked in. "Clear," she said. They put their weapons to their sides, she pulled out a map and marked it off.

Jones looked at them. "If you guys are going with us we need to talk about proper procedure. Don't ever put yourself in front of an open door until you've cleared the building. You could get killed that way. This we know from experience. Always cover your partner. When you see there's nothing in the room, as far as unfriendlies, you say 'clear' to indicate that you've searched the room and its okay to go in. Capice?"

"What is 'Capice'?" Hawkeye asked.

"It's Italian and means 'do you understand?'"

Uncas nodded. They walked out of the house after putting the milk in the freezer and shut the door. Jones marked the door with a red X and they moved to the next house. When Smith kicked the door in they all moved back. "Dead?" she asked Jones.

"Doesn't smell like it. It smells like dog shit," Jones gave his opinion.

Jones turned to Uncas. "Alright, you and Hawkeye take the ground floor. We'll be upstairs. When you've cleared the room make sure to say 'clear' so we can hear it. Capice?"

Hawkeye nodded. They entered the entrance way and Smith headed to the steps. Hawkeye and Uncas copied them with the living room. Uncas looked under the furniture, like he saw Jones do earlier, then said "Clear." He turned and followed Hawkeye down the hall to the kitchen. Uncas stood by the door, weapon out, while Hawkeye cleared the kitchen.

"Uncas, take the room back there."

Uncas passed him and found another bathroom. It was small so there was nothing really to 'clear', but he said it anyway. He came back to the kitchen and saw a small dog being carried by Smith. Jones was behind her. He grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and filled it with water. They put the dog and the water on the floor. The dog inhaled the water. Jones filled it again, while Smith looked for some dog food.

"We found it locked up in the little girl's room. Poor thing. It was drinking out of the toilet. There wasn't any water left." She put a bowl of food on the floor and the dog inhaled that, too. She reached for its collar and read off 'Mutt'.

"Alright, Mutt, and you look like a male, do you want to come along?" she crooned. The dog wagged his tail and looked for more food.

"How like a man. Always wanting more," she chuckled.

"Hey, the dog knows a beautiful woman is going to feed him, so hells to the yeah."

Uncas bent down to get a closer look at the dog. It looked funny with curly fur on it. "It's a poodle." He looked up at Smith.

"A type of dog called a poodle. I'll show you pictures of other dogs if you're interested."

The dog licked Uncas' fingers. "Hey, Uncas, why don't you take the food, with the dog, back to the hotel? All chicks like dogs," Jones told him. He looked at Jones.

"What he means, Uncas, is that women like dogs. This may help Alice with her situation," Smith got his attention.

Uncas petted the dog, grabbed the food, picked up the dog and walked out the door. Smith turned to Jones. "'All chicks like dogs'? Really?"

"Hey, how's he supposed to get her attention if he doesn't step up his game?"

Hawkeye looked back and forth between the two of them. He didn't understand anything they were saying.

* * *

Back at the hotel Cora found Sarge and asked if there was anything she could do to help. He asked her if she felt comfortable in the elevator. "We'd like all the towels from the other rooms brought down and put in a storage closet. We're going to need to do laundry soon." Cora agreed and asked Alice to help her. Sarge met them on the second floor, gave Cora the keys to the rooms and showed her what he wanted. As they 'stripped' the rooms of towels, they stored them on the cart and took them down to the storage area. Alice was frightened of the elevator. She made sure she stood in the middle of it, when she could, by the door when she couldn't. After they'd stripped the second floor, Cora went to make lunch. The Captain was in the kitchen and she almost backed out.

"Sorry, Cora, I should've told you you were on your own for lunch. My men are out doing various things, so we didn't make a schedule."

"That's fine, Captain. Umm, is there something easy that I could make? I've not worked with Einstein as far as cooking."

The Captain pulled out 'lunch meat' some 'condiments' and bread. "Sandwiches should work." She left the room.

Cora put together some sandwiches and found Alice in the game room watching the 'Little Mermaid' again. "Alice, I've made sandwiches. Let's go to the dining room." Alice shut off the DVD player and TV and followed Cora. After they were done eating Alice put the dishes in the dish pit. When she turned around Uncas was there with a small bundle of fur. Cora pushed the door open and saw Uncas holding something. He held it out to Alice, and it licked his fingers.

"It's a poodle." Alice looked confused.

"A dog," he expanded. The dog yipped. Alice reached out to touch it and it licked her fingers. When Alice didn't take it he put it on the floor and it rushed up to her. Alice bent down and picked it up. It licked her face and she laughed, making Cora smile.

"Thank you, Uncas," she told him.

Alice smiled at him. "Yes, thank you," she whispered. He put the bag on the floor.

"Food. The dog's name is 'Mutt'."

"Have you eaten, Uncas?" Cora asked him.

"No, Hawkeye is still with Smith and Jones doing a 'house to house'. I'll go back with them."

"Thank you for the dog," Alice smiled at him. Uncas nodded his head and left again.

Sarge came in next, looked at the dog and made a sandwich. "Where'd you get the dog?" he asked.

"Uncas found it with Smith, Jones and Nathanial when they were doing a 'house to house'," Cora told him.

"Mmmm. Make sure you take it out for bathroom breaks, Alice." The dog came over and sniffed Sarge's boots. He bent down and petted the dog, looked at the collar. "'Mutt'? Not very original," he commented. He finished his sandwich and left the kitchen.

"Alice, did you want to finish helping me?" Cora got her attention.

"I'd like to spend some time with Mutt, Cora."

"Alright, but Sarge is right. You need to take it out so it can do its business outside. Why don't you do that now?"

Alice picked the dog up and walked out of the kitchen. Cora left and went to the third floor to strip the rooms. By the time she was done, the storage area was overflowing. She found Sarge and explained the situation.

He gave her another set of keys. "Pick a couple of rooms and put the rest in there. Make sure that we won't drown under towels if we go to the storage closet." After she was finished she was tired but proud of herself. She found Sarge again and gave him the keys back and told him the rooms the towels were in.

"Great. Can you write it on the board behind you? This way we know, keeps everyone updated at once." He pointed to a board. Cora picked up the implement and looked at it.

"It's a dry erase marker. Pull the cap off and write on the board," the Captain said from behind her. Cora did and wrinkled her nose. Sarge laughed. "Yeah, that smell takes some getting used to."

Cora noted the location of the towels. She made a mistake and started to write it again down a little further when Sarge told her to take the 'eraser' and 'erase' it and do it again. Cora did.

"Makes it easy."

"Is there something else I can do, Captain, Sarge?"

"Well, Einstein, Nye and Chingachgook will be here in twenty minutes with more supplies. I'd appreciate it if you could help put them away in the kitchen. When you're done that's it for the rest of the day. We don't have anything pressing," he said.

"Fine. I'll be with Alice until then."

"Yes, I heard about the dog. 'Mutt' is it?" the Captain asked.

"Yes. Alice has never had a pet. My father didn't like them. I've never seen a 'poodle' dog before."

"Well, as long as it doesn't shit or piss anywhere in the hotel it's acceptable for Alice to have," the Captain said. Cora wrinkled her nose that the crude words, but the woman was wearing a 'pistol', so she didn't say anything.

"I'll make sure the Alice doesn't allow that to happen, Captain." Cora exited the room and found Alice outside with playing her dog. "Alice, make sure that the dog has regular 'bathroom' breaks."

"I will, Cora." She sat for a moment. "Is Sarge mad about the dog?"

"No, but the Captain knows you have it. She doesn't seem to mind as long as it doesn't defecate in the hotel."

"Alright. Do you think she'd mind if it slept in my bed?"

"No, I don't think she'd mind. You can always ask her."

"She's very intimidating."

"Yes, I suppose she would have to be. She's a woman, in command of soldiers."

"I never thought such a thing was possible."

"This 'modern' is certainly very interesting."

"I'd like to watch the 'documentary' on 'women's rights' that Reaper took from 'Best Buy'," Alice said.

"Yes, I think that would be a very good idea, Alice."

* * *

Chingachgook helped stack the last of the supplies in the kitchen while Einstein, Nye and Cora Monroe put it away. The 'grocery store' had been an interesting experience. He would have to show it to Uncas and Hawkeye. He went to find Sarge and ask about his sons.

"Last time I got a check in, they were still with Smith and Jones. They should be back in an hour. They cleared a square mile of houses today. The most they found was a poodle." Chingachgook looked puzzled. "A dog," Sarge clarified.

"Have Angel and Reaper been checking in? Nothing is wrong?"

"Regular check-ins. They did send you something." Sarge pulled up a picture. It was a sign with the word 'Kentucky' crossed off and spelled 'Can-tuk-ee'.

"I don't read the white man's language, Sarge. I did have my sons learn."

"This is a sign of the state of Kentucky," he pointed out the word that was crossed off. "The letters written above it spell out 'Can-tuk-ee'," Sarge explained.

Chingachgook nodded and left. He went to play with the dart board. He was very touched that they chose to pronounce it like his people did.

* * *

They finished the last house. "You guys were good, once you got it down. We've gotta do another mile tomorrow. If you want, I'll ask Sarge to give you your own area," Jones told them as they walked back to the hotel.

Hawkeye was impressed that they were able to keep up with him and Uncas considering they were carrying several weapons, wore heavier clothes and carried a bag with 'spray paint'.

"Maybe Chingachgook will go with you. I mean, it's gotta be better than sitting around, doing nothing," Smith said.

"I'll ask my father, in the morning."

"Good deal. I'll drop a bug," Jones offered.

"'Drop a bug'?" Uncas asked.

"Yeah, it means I'll let him know how good you were today and if you want, get your own area to clear."

"Yangeze have odd ways of speaking," Hawkeye remarked.

"Yeah, Marines more than most," Smith laughed.

"What is a 'marine'? Sarge mentioned 'army', 'navy, 'air force' last night."

"Well, the US has groups of soldiers to protect its interests, here and abroad. The Marines, which is us, are the toughest. We mostly fight on the ground. We're also the first to be deployed, sent where needed, in any wars or skirmishes. The Navy fights at sea with aircraft carriers, submarines and other water craft. The Air Force fights in the air. Those F16's you saw? They use planes. The Army? We're still trying to find out what they do."

Jones laughed at Smith's explanation. "The various forces have something of a rivalry, a good natured contest, as to who's the best."

Uncas nodded his head. "So, did Alice like the dog, Uncas?" Jones came up beside him.

He shrugged his shoulders. "She laughed and smiled when it licked her face."

"Then that was a good call."

* * *

Angel and Reaper picked out a hotel as close to the interstate as possible that wasn't a flea bag. So far they'd seen nothing but abandoned cars, small animals, bugs and birds. Reaper was making a salad when she told Angel that she was never taking commercial flights for granted again.

"Yeah, we need to get instrument rated."

"I know. I'll check into when we get back."

"You're so sure we're getting back?" Angel ask her as he took a bite of salad.

"Yeah, because there is no fucking way this can't be undone. Whatever idiot did this shoulda known that there's always someone better than you out there." He nodded his head in agreement.

"So, what are we going to do with Chingachgook?"

Reaper sighed. "Well, I think we should take him to your parents. Granted, they're not his people, but they live a life that he'd be able to deal with. It's a good thing your mom's Sioux. He'd be able to hunt without getting busted."

"I was going to anyway. I just wanted your opinion."

"Great minds and all that?" she chuckled.

"Yep. Not sure about the sons."

"Well, they'd have to go with him, but we're going to have to do something about the education. I mean, they'd need a driver's license and a high school diploma, at the very least. I'm pretty sure they can read and write, but that won't be enough."

"No, it won't."

"He's gotta know that if we only get one shot at this we're taking it, right?" Reaper asked him.

"He knows."

* * *

Cora helped Einstein make a dinner called 'meatloaf'. It was interesting how she combined eggs with meat and mixed it up with 'onion soup mix'. Einstein showed her how to use the oven, then they made frozen vegetables.

"They're not as good as fresh, but until we run across a garden, it's better than canned."

"'Canned'?"

"Yeah," Einstein pulled out a big can of mixed vegetables. "Not my cup, but some people like them and they're cheap and last for five hundred years."

"How do you know they last for five hundred years?"

Einstein chuckled. "Slight exaggeration. They last a long time."

Cora started on the salad. "Alice and I would like to watch the documentary on women's rights. Would that be permissible?"

"Sure, you can do whatever you want. The Captain just wants you to stay close. She doesn't want to get you to get separated from us."

Cora checked on the meatloaf and asked about Angel and Reaper.

"That must've been hard."

Cora looked puzzled. "No, it was easy."

"I mean, they're not the easiest to get along with. They are indifferent to just about everyone but us, Chingachgook and the native people's that are left. She wouldn't have shot those other natives but being chased by a T Rex and not getting eaten takes precedence."

"That large…beast? That was a 'T Rex'?"

"Yeah, who knew those things could book."

"Why didn't she shoot Alice?"

"We could see that she was being taken against her will, hands bound and all that. You, Hawkeye, Uncas and Chingachgook were not with them, so not part of her issue. If Hawkeye had put up that old fashioned rifle, she'd a tried to shoot him too."

"She saw all of that while running?" Cora was incredulous.

"Yep. Sarge wasn't lying when he said they were the best of the best. I've never seen a single misstep from them in combat. One time, we were patrolling in Kabul, that's in Afghanistan, her and Angel were able to take out an entire insurgent stronghold that had held about 12 men at the time, all armed with Kalashnikov's, some had machete's, lots of hand guns. They were holding some women and children hostage. They killed the all insurgents, not a scratch on the women and children from them."

Cora sat down. "I don't understand half of what you said, but the point comes across."

"But, to answer your question, they've been checking in regularly. They made it to the panhandle. A part of Texas."

Cora got back up and finished making the salad. She put it in a large bowl and took it to the dining room table. Einstein followed with dressings. She'd picked up some poppy seed she wanted Chingachgook to try. Cora found more brownies and plated them while Einstein took them to places at the table. After the plates and cutlery had been laid out, with napkins, Cora tested the meatloaf. It was very good. Einstein grabbed a little piece and smiled.

"Good, Cora." Cora smiled and called everyone to dinner. She received lots of compliments. Nye brought out some Frito's and put them in front of Jones while the table was being cleaned.

"Dude, really?"

"Yeah, I told Chingachgook about poker. Einstein thinks you should teach him."

Jones looked at Chingachgook. "Do you really want to learn or just eat the dip?"

"I would like to learn. Do you beat Angel and Reaper?"

"Yep, but not all the time. They only get pissed because they've never lost to Marcus."

Chingachgook still wanted to learn

"Okay, we've got another briefing in an hour. After that it's on. The Captain and Sarge usually play, just an FYI."

"'FYI'?"

"For your information. And Sarge is good."

* * *

Alice and Cora went to the game room. Smith pulled out the women's rights documentary and gave it to them. "We have another briefing in an hour, if you're interested. After that, Jones is teaching Chingachgook how to play poker. You're more than welcome to learn, if you like."

"What is 'poker'?" Alice asked.

"It's a card game. But, you can do whatever. If you go out, stay close." Alice started the DVD player and put the documentary in. They decided to go to the briefing so they chatted about Mutt.

"Where is he?"

"In our room."

"I think you should let him out, Alice. If he defecates in there it will smell terrible."

"Do you think the Captain would get mad?"

"She'll get mad if the dog defecates on the carpet in here. Other than that I don't think she cares either way." Alice left to get the dog. When she came back there were tears in her eyes.

"Oh no, Alice."

"I'm sorry, Cora." Alice was holding onto Mutt for dear life.

"Stay here."

She sought out Smith. Smith showed Alice where the cleaning supplies were and told her what to do.

"It's your dog, Alice, so you need to clean it up."

"You won't tell the Captain, will you?" she was crying.

Smith snorted. "No, this isn't something she'd be concerned about. It's if the dog goes to the bathroom in the common areas she'd have a problem with. But if the dog shits in the hotel often it could draw bugs and we don't want that. Let the dog roam. We found it locked in a room today, so it was probably scared it wouldn't be able to get out of there, too." Smith ran her hand down Alice's hair and kissed her on the head.

"Just clean it up, alright? And don't feed it any people food, it could get sick."

Alice thanked her and cleaned up the dog mess. She put it in the trash in the kitchen, then went to the conference room for the 'briefing'. She wouldn't understand anything, but she felt she should at least try to pretend to be interested.

'Incoming Call' appeared on the screen then Reaper.

"Sitrep?"

"Same, Captain. We've bunked down for tonight. We should reach Houston tomorrow. The GPS is acting a little funny, but we'll get there."

"The area has a lot of interference, Reap."

"Then don't be surprised if we can't check in regular. And by the way, Captain? Angel and I are getting instrument rated when we get back. Our group should get a raise with the way we collect skills. You should mention it to Marshon."

"And I'll get right on that, Reaper. Contact before you leave."

"Yes, sir."

'Call Ended'

"Just to bring everyone up to speed," Sarge stood and pointed to the map. "Angel and Reaper are here. Texas is a big state, but they'll get to Houston some time tomorrow. They haven't seen anything but small animals, bugs, and birds. No human activity. Smith, Jones, house to house. Same area. Einstein, Nye, the Captain and I found some, interesting things, going through the base's sat history. I want you to correlate what we have now with this information and see if it pertains. Other than that, Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye, if you want to continue surveillance, go ahead. Smith and Jones were happy with your help today, so if you want your own area, you can have it, or you can tandem with them. Let me know. And I understand Chingachgook wants to learn poker. The Captain and I will join you in twenty minutes. Make sure you have that dip made, Nye. I love that stuff."

"Yes, Sarge." Nye got up and headed to the kitchen a head of everyone else.


	7. Chapter 7

Chingachgook had a nice time learning 'poker'. Sarge was good. He had a good poker face. The Captain wasn't bad either. Jones had the best time teaching him, he said.

"Nothing but fun for me to teach new suckers."

Uncas had gotten upset with that until Chingachgook had explained that 'talking shit' seemed to happen a lot with them. Smith laughed hard.

"You fit right in, Chingachgook. Even though we don't understand what you mean when you talk shit, you talk it."

* * *

Alice and Cora watched the women's rights documentary and were astounded that the struggles women had gone through to get where they were today. The talked about it and fell asleep talking about it. They could understand more of why Einstein and Smith took some things for granted that they were scandalized by. Mutt slept in Alice's bed. Alice got up around five fifteen to let Mutt out to use the 'bathroom' and she saw Smith dressed in full combat gear. Her eyes got wide. Smith waved to her as she let the dog out. Alice smiled on her way back to bed.

* * *

Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye partnered with Smith and Jones with the next block of searches. Chingachgook caught on quickly and thought it was very interesting. He learned some things he hoped he'd be able to take back with him. He had no illusions that the soldiers would return them if they only could do it one time. They would have to go to the future. He also knew that Angel and Reaper would take care of him and his sons until they could take care of themselves. He hoped that would not happen and he and his sons and the Monroe's could go back to their time.

* * *

Alice and Cora spent part of the day learning how to use the 'washing and drying' machines. They had asked if anything needed to be done. When Nye told them laundry he then showed them what to do.

"You don't have to, if you don't want. We'll get around to it sometime today."

"Just show us how, Nye. We want to contribute," Cora assured him.

"Alright. Why don't you start with yours. If you still want to do more, let me know. Sarge will get you keys to our rooms and you can grab the towels, at least. You'll have to ask Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye about theirs." He showed them how use both machines. "Fold the clothes anyway that works for you. As far as the towels, take one, undo it, follow the lines then redo the towel. Do that for all of them. If you can't figure it out, someone will show you how."

He taught them what the tags on the clothes meant so they wouldn't get ruined. "Because that means more trips to the mall and I think the Captain would put the kibosh on that."

"'Kibosh'?" Alice asked.

"I don't think she'd be happy."

Alice nodded her head and paid extra attention. They had gotten through their clothes and did their towels. It wasn't hard. When they were done they went and had some of the leftover meatloaf. Cora was getting good with the 'microwave oven'.

"I would like to have one of those," she mentioned to Alice after they sat down to eat. Alice agreed with that. After they ate they told Sarge they'd be willing to do everyone's towels. He gave them keys to the rooms. "But not the Mohicans. It not my place. You'll have to talk to them about it."

While Alice and Cora washed and dried the used towels they put fresh ones in the rooms. Alice felt funny going into them, and she refused to go into Angel and Reaper's room. She made Cora do that.

* * *

The Captain, Sarge, Einstein and Nye were closeted in the conference room, rarely coming out. The dead zones they found could be a problem. It would explain why they found the people they did. They couldn't figure out about the dinosaurs as their migration patterns, if they had any, weren't known.

"Get Angel and Reaper on the phone. They need to know. I don't want them to have any surprises."

"Yes, sir," Einstein said as she called them. There was a lot of interference, and they got the locations of the dead zones surrounding the area before the call cut out.

"What now, Captain?" Sarge asked.

She looked at him. "They're the best. They'll get what they can and get back with us."

"What about the Mohicans and Monroe's? Do we tell them?"

"Yes, we've been as straight as we can, I see no reason to change that policy now."

* * *

Life had drifted into somewhat of a 'normal' routine. Everyone knew about the dead zones and the fact that Angel and Reaper wouldn't be able to check in regularly. "If we don't hear anything from them in three days we're sending someone else to find them." Alice and Cora didn't do much of anything. The hotel had been inventoried, towels were done and they had plenty more. The Mohicans left theirs outside the door and that's where Cora and Alice left replacements.

Einstein and Nye set up laptops and were teaching anyone that wanted to learn how to use the computer. Alice took care of her dog. She told Sarge that Mutt was almost out of food, so he sent her with Cora, Chingachgook, Uncas, Hawkeye, Smith and Jones to the grocery store for more, along with dip and chips, as poker was turning out to be a popular pastime. When they walked in, everyone was in awe. Uncas walked up and down all the aisles. Jones explained anything that he stopped in front of. Cora couldn't believe the amount of food there. Smith showed Alice the dog food section. She picked up a couple of toys for Mutt. Smith and Jones rushed everyone out.

"We'll have to come back. The Captain's heard from Angel and Reaper." Everyone got in the car and rushed back in the hotel when the car stopped. The Captain and Sarge looked up as the conference room was filled with people.

"I didn't mean you had to come back, Smith."

"Sorry, Captain. We just wanted to know the situation."

The Captain sighed. "Well, they found some interesting documentation as well as a few more people. They're bringing everyone back. They should be here in two days. They'll check in tonight at sixteen hundred hours, so if you want to go back permission is granted. Just be back by fifteen hundred."

"Dismissed," Sarge's voice rang out.

"Yes, sir," Jones ushered everyone out. "Who wants to go back? We have," he looked at his watch, "two hours to kill." Everyone but Chingachgook wanted to go. He'd seen it before so he sat in the conference room listening to the talk between Einstein, Nye, the Captain and Sarge. They were mapping more 'dead zones'. Sarge put a pot of coffee on the table and a cup in front of him. Chingachgook nodded to Sarge and filled his cup.

"It's coming through now, Captain." Chingachgook turned to look at Nye as he brought up information on the screen.

"They found a zip drive and emailed us some files," he explained. The Captain and Sarge moved toward the screen. Einstein held up a zip drive for him to look at, then put it in the computer to show him how it worked. He didn't understand 'email' even though it had been explained to him. Chingachgook nodded his head and looked at the Captain and Sarge. Nye was mumbling to himself, Einstein was circling things on paper as it was expelled from the 'printer'.

Sarge started writing on the board starting with 'Dr. Noel Ryan'. Chingachgook got up left the conference room and headed to the bar to pay some darts. He'd decided to wait until the briefing to find out more. He was 'on edge' and needed to 'calm down'. These words he'd learned from Smith when she talked about Nye and his 'caffeine intake'. He heard the others come back and went to the dining room.

He saw Uncas with 'Ben and Jerry's' ice cream. He had a sheepish look on his face when he saw his father. Hawkeye had a bag of 'Doritos'. Cora was exclaiming over 'flan' and 'eclairs'. Alice wanted to try the 'microwave popcorn'. Jones was telling her it was great. "Just pop a bag, plop your butt in a seat and watch movies." Smith was laughing quietly at the entire scene. When she saw Chingachgook she laughed even harder.

"You missed a helluva trip, Chingachgook."

"I see," sent her off into more laughter. She held up a bag of Frito's, sour cream and soup mix. He nodded in appreciation.

Sixteen hundred hours saw everyone in the conference room. 'Incoming Call' showed up on the screen then both Angel and Reaper.

"Let's start with the people," the Captain ordered. They turned the laptop around to show three Native women, two fairly young, one a little older and two males, both in their early twenties.

"Great Hawk, Gray Wolf, Wise Mother, Warrior Woman, Hawk Singing, this is our Captain." Angel repeated that in a language that no one recognized. "White Plains Apache, circa 1850," Reaper stated. She held up an old fashioned pistol that everyone but the Mohicans and Monroe's recognized. The men were dressed in long animal skin pants, moccasins up to their knees, animal skin shirts. Their hair was long, straight, black and had feathers. The women were in animal skin dresses to their calves with beads around their necks and on their clothes. Long, straight black hair fell around their shoulders.

"Report."

"Yes, sir," they could hear Angel in the background speaking the language no one recognized. "We made it to Houston, the GPS went wild about 200 miles north, so we had to rely on highway signs. We got there but had to drive around for a while trying to figure out what we were looking for. We finally used our compass to figure it out. The needle was all over. It spun even faster the closer we got this guy's house. When we walked in we did a search and didn't find anything but a misshapen rat, I've sent pictures, and it doesn't look good."

"Yes, we've seen," Sarge said.

"Entering the basement, we saw some kind of…device? for lack of a better word. We grabbed the guy's computers, any hard drives, and started looking through his journal. That's mostly what we sent. He's got terabytes of data. When we hit a FEDEX those files wouldn't even load up. We grabbed some of his equipment, too, what wasn't burned. This was around seventeen hundred hours. We spent a good two hours at the house of horrors," One of the Natives was yelling at Angel, he yelled back, Reaper continued like nothing was wrong. "We decided to put as much space between ground zero and us so we started to drive. Houston is a bitch if you don't know where you're going. We ended up going out of town west. When we decided to stop for the night, we did a little recon and found them," she waved her hand in the direction of the Apache. "Fuckers tried to shoot me," Reaper bitched.

"After we straightened out who would win that contest, we restrained them." One of the men started yelling at Reaper. She turned around and yelled back at him. One of the women got involved and she yelled at her to. "The charming young man, Great Hawk, called me a Navajo whore, short version. Warrior Woman called me the equivalent of white trash. We decided to grab our new friends and make it to a point where we could call you. We landed south of Can-tuk-ee, just across the state line. We should be back, barring any unforeseen circumstances in two days." Great Hawk continued yelling at both Angel and Reaper. Angel yelled right back at him. Reaper winced at something but continued. "I hope to have everyone in one piece, but I can't guarantee anything. We won't have a chance to look at the papers more in depth due to differences of opinion with the Apache. Some of the formulas Angel was able to look at don't make much sense." Angel was punching Great Hawk in the stomach. "So that's why we sent it ahead of time. I'm not sure if Sarge would be able to understand any of it. I know his degree is in chemistry and not math. Also, Smith, I've sent pictures of some sort of stone that was in Ryan's house. I think it's from that last meteor that struck in Russia. It's nothing I've ever seen before, but I know you have a masters in geology. I found a bill of sale from a Russian company for caviar and that doesn't make much sense unless he bought it black market." Great Hawk was on the ground, being restrained. Warrior Woman jumped on Angel's back. Reaper turned around so fast yanked her off and put her face first on the floor. She kept her boot on her back then turned to face the computer again. "Now, I can't contact anyone I know in Russia, so that's my best guess." She pulled her weapon on Gray Wolf, then said something to him in a low voice. He got to his knees and put his hands on his head.

"They don't speak English, Captain, just Apache. We'd like to teach Chingachgook, as Angel and I have other duties to see to. If that would be alright with him, of course. If we taught anyone else, outside of our group, the Apache would chew them up and spit them out."

"I'll speak to him about it. In the meantime, get some shuteye, if you can. Find the local jail if you have to and put them in for the night."

"Yes, sir." The screen went black.

The Captain turned and faced the table. "The Apache and Navajo were traditionally enemies. That's just an FYI. Chingachgook, if you want to learn, they'll teach you. You picked up Navajo fairly quickly, so I don't think it will be an issue. Now, we're going to be combing through what Angel and Reaper sent. If you want to continue the house to house, let Sarge know, he'll give you the map and spray paint. Alice and Cora, if you could pick up more cooking and cleaning up duties, it would be much appreciated. If not, let Sarge know so we can make arrangements. Einstein, Nye, Smith and Jones. Reaper sent along what she called 'conversational' Apache, which means you'll at least be able to recognize when they're calling you white trash. Learn it. When they get here I want at least two hours of training per day until you can call their grandmother's dog's flea's Navajo whores."

Sarge stood up. "You heard the Captain. Breakfast oh five thirty. Dismissed."

"Warrior Woman looks like she'd be fun at parties," Nye said as they left the room.

"I wonder what Great Hawk said to set Angel off like that. It's usually Reaper punching people," Einstein remarked.

"Yeah, but you can bet that Warrior Woman's going to be in a world of hurt when Reaper's done." Smith winced. "I don't think that woman ever regained the use of her hand." By unspoken agreement they headed to the bar. The Mohicans and Monroe's behind them. Jones walked around and got beers for the soldiers and sodas for the others.

"No, I don't think so, she may just threaten her. The woman in Peru was hitting on Angel. Warrior Woman just looked like she was fighting him," Einstein gave her opinion after a drink.

"True, but she might be catatonic when she gets here. Reaper can be pretty creative."

"What happened to the woman in Peru?" Hawkeye asked. Laughter met his question. After the soldier's settled down Jones looked at them.

"You sure you want to hear old war stories?"

"'War stories'?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, you know, didn't your dad ever sit around and tell you about his exploits?"

"No, our father didn't think we should hear tales from his battles," Cora said. Einstein rolled her eyes. "We were delicate and should be protected from 'war stories'."

"And how did that work out for you?" Smith pointed her beer in Cora's direction.

Alice didn't say anything, but Cora thought about it. "Not very well, in the long run."

"Aside from the delicacy issue, war stories are boring. I remember my dad telling me about some battle from the '80's during the Kuwait thing. Boring."

"What happened to the woman in Peru?" Hawkeye asked again.

"Ok, but if it gets to boring, tell me," Jones pointed his finger in his direction. "Anyway, we'd just completed a mission and had a little down time, uh, we didn't have to do anything the next day, work wise. So, we head to this club, right? Dancing, drinking, etc. We're dressed in our fatigues. Now there's a theory that women love a men in uniform."

"That's not a theory, honey, that's the truth," Smith said.

"Oh yeah, before I got Einstein I used my uniform as a pussy magnet," Nye exclaimed.

"Really?" Einstein drawled.

"Yeah, until we met in that bar fight in Tokyo. When I saw you knock out that big sumo looking guy, well, you were it."

"'Sumo looking guy'?" Alice questioned.

"Yeah, uh, in Japan they have a sport called Sumo wrestling. Guys that weigh around three hundred pounds or so wrestling each other. I'll have to see if I can find one for you to watch. I think it's boring as shit, but to each his own."

"'Pussy magnet'?" Cora asked.

"'Pussy magnet' is a term used for something that attracts women. Like for some guys it's a car, some guys its long hair, or being bald, or being super smart."

"You remember Jenkins?" Jones asked the room and got nods. "That fucker used his sister's kids."

"Really?" Einstein asked. "That would be one of the last things that attracted me."

"Don't worry, Cora, women have dick magnets. You know, things that attract guys," Smith reassured her.

"Yeah, for some it's long hair, being super smart, wearing a uniform," Einstein supplied.

"And back to the woman in Peru," Jones turned the story back. "Now's not the time to give them lessons on magnets. Anyway, we're just kicking back, relaxing, when this woman comes up to Angel. Now, I don't know about you, Alice or you, Cora but does Angel look like he's friendly? I mean, would you try and pick him up in a club?"

"'Pick him up'? I don't believe I could lift a person," Cora replied.

"Ah, pick him up, means get him to take you home so he can fuck your brains out." Einstein instructed.

Both Cora and Alice got red in the face. "No, Angel doesn't look like he's friendly at all," Alice whispered. The soldiers got a good laugh at that. "We're not laughing at you, Alice, but you and your friends are the absolute best," Jones patted her hand. "Continuing on. So this woman comes up and is hitting on Angel, trying to get his attention. Reaper is sitting right next to him and I know that chick doesn't look friendly at all. She finally tells the woman to fuck off. The woman told Reaper that she didn't have to listen to a whore. Reaper told her she's Angel's whore and as such he had good taste to keep her. And why would he stick his dick at the bottom of the barrel when he had her? Well, the woman didn't like that and threw her drink in Reaper's face. Reaper stood up, took that woman's hand and practically twisted it until it was turned around."

"Then the fucking hair pullers came out. I hate those," Smith sneered.

"'Hair pullers'?" Chingachgook finally spoke.

"Yeah, women that can't fight, so they pull hair. Well, one of the woman's friends starts yelling at Reaper, but she sat back in her chair. I mean, it just didn't register for her, you know? The screamer stood behind her for a good five, just yelling. I finally told her she was boring and we could see a better show in the alley as her friend gives blow jobs."

"'Blow jobs'?" Uncas looked at Smith.

"Doesn't matter. Just know that what I said wasn't nice. So, she turns to me and pulls my hair. I hate that, so I punched her in the stomach. Her boyfriend/husband didn't like that at all. After I broke his nose, the entire place erupts into a bar brawl."

"That was the best time I've ever had in Peru," Nye said.

Jones lifted his beer and clinked glasses with Einstein. "Good times."

"Alright, poker or darts?"


	8. Chapter 8

The next day breakfast was short. Alice and Cora cleaned up then asked if they could continue their computer lessons. Einstein set them up with laptops in the game room. "We'll try and help you if we can, but we're going to be pretty busy going through what was sent. You guys have the basics so don't be afraid to try anything. You can't break it, unless you throw it across the room."

Chingachgook, Hawkeye and Uncas continued the house to house. They found several with dead pets. Jones was right, that stunk. Chingachgook looked at a bowl filled with water and dead fish. He shook his head at some of the 'modern' things. They made less sense than the Yangeze he had dealt with before. He looked at the expiration date on the milk and dumped it in the sink. Much waste. Much less sense. They finished and made it back in time for dinner. The Captain was making steaks. There was a grill out back. Chingachgook watched intently, then she turned the 'fork' over to him and asked if he would please finish. He was shocked at first, but it was almost like cooking over an open fire, but with some conveniences. He would have to remember this too.

Everyone liked the steaks. The potatoes were done by Alice. She was trying to not be so 'wimpy', if she understood the term correctly. After watching the documentary she tried new things. She liked playing 'solitaire' on the 'laptop'. Einstein told her of a 'program' that was used to make the 'cartoon' movies she enjoyed.

Uncas and Hawkeye felt restless. The house to house was interesting but they wanted to hunt for their own food. Jones and Nye tried to get them interested in the computer, but they weren't ones to sit around for hours on end staring at a 'screen'. Smith asked them if they wanted to learn to fight.

"We know how to fight, Smith," Hawkeye retorted.

"I mean a different style of fighting. Watch." She and Sarge demonstrated 'Karate' to them when they were taking a 'break' from 'analyzing' the 'data' from the 'crazy fuckhead's' house on the day that Angel and Reaper were supposed to return. Sarge was taller than Smith and weighed more than she. They were impressed when she flipped him over her shoulder.

Sarge got up and went back into the hotel. "See, Karate. Now, we have a video that you can watch to get the basics. When Reaper and Angel get back ask them to teach you. Or have your dad ask them. They like him, so they'd probably do it."

They discussed it and decided to watch the video. It was interesting. They tried on their own, but were becoming frustrated. Soon, Angel and Reaper showed up and everyone ran to the front of the hotel.

Chingachgook told his sons to dress in their regular clothes, not the new ones. When the SUV stopped, everyone got out and no one was restrained. Angel was in front, Great Hawk, Gray Wolf, Wise Mother, Warrior Woman and Hawk Singing behind him with Reaper taking the rear. When Angel opened the door, Great Hawk looked at it closely while Angel explained. They stared at each other then Great Hawk entered. The Captain and Sarge greeted him in Apache. He looked at the Captain, then her weapon and walked by her. He stared at Sarge, taking in his height and weapon. Reaper said something to him and he laughed and walked past the group into the lobby.

"Did she just tell him to move his ass?" Nye asked.

"Yeah, didn't you listen to the file she sent?" Einstein looked at him.

"Most of it. I fell asleep near the end." Einstein shook her head.

The others entered. Great Hawk went up to Chingachgook and stared. Great Hawk circled him. Uncas and Hawkeye stood still. Gray Wolf came up behind Uncas and looked at his clothes. After a few minutes Great Hawk snorted then went back to Angel and Reaper, Gray Wolf following. The others took it as okay and started to walk around touching everything. The Captain and Sarge went with Wise Mother and answered any question she had. Einstein and Nye went with Hawk Singing, Smith and Jones with Warrior Woman, who seemed a little calmer.

Smith shot Reaper a look. "I told her I'd cut her tits off is she didn't calm the fuck down."

"Good."

Alice and Cora shrunk back. When the Native women came up to them they touched their hair, clothes, skin. Alice was getting scared. Wise Mother told them something and they stopped.

"Chingachgook, we'll find you in a bit and get you started on Apache if you want to learn," Reaper told him in Mohican. The Apache stopped and stared at her. She explained to the Apache that what she said was none of their fucking business. Even the Captain laughed at that. Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye followed the men as they walked around. Angel led them outside in the back. They had a conversation then Great Hawk and Gray Wolf took off. Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye right behind them. The Apache found some trees and walked around them gesturing. Gray Wolf pulled out an axe and started cutting them down. The Mohicans just watched as they stripped the trees and started dragging them back to the hotel. Chingachgook picked up one end and Great Hawk stopped. They gazed at each other for a few minutes then Great Hawk continued walking. Uncas helped Gray Wolf.

* * *

Cora wondered if the men would be alright. Great Hawk reminded her of Magua. She asked Smith about it.

"Yeah, they'll be fine. They're just feeling each other out, is all. Besides, Reaper threatened them if they hurt any of you."

"Don't tell them that, though," Jones interrupted. "I think it would hurt their feelings."

"Oh."

Einstein and Nye took Wise Mother, Hawk Singing and Warrior Woman around the hotel. They asked a lot of questions and touched pretty much everything. When they got close to something that could hurt them they were moved away. Hawk Singing found Mutt and picked him up. Alice got nervous. When he licked her on the face she laughed and started to touch his fur, pulling the short curls up and letting them fall back. She put the dog down and continued on. The Captain and Sarge left to unload the SUV. Einstein and Nye followed a few minutes later leaving Smith, Jones, Angel, Reaper and the Monroe sisters to watch them.

Angel and Reaper showed them some rooms and the women started stripping and heading for the shower. Alice and Cora left that room quickly. Reaper got them settled to one at a time while Smith laughed her ass off.

"Like the shower, huh?" she chuckled.

"You have no idea. That first night, I pitched Warrior Woman into a cold shower. After she stopped screaming they all wanted to try it. I turned on the warm water and let's just say it was a good thing we were in a hotel because in a regular house they would've drained the hot water tank for ten years."

"How was it, otherwise?"

"Well, after I kicked Gray Wolf's ass and Angel kicked Great Hawk's they seemed to settle down. Warrior Woman, like I said, had a mouth on her. After I threatened to cut her tits off she toned it down. She'll eat the Monroe's for lunch. Probably Uncas and Hawkeye, too."

"What are you going to do with them?" Smith asked her.

"We know some people at White Tank reservation. We'll take them there. At least they'll understand the language."

"Later we need to trade stories. Einstein and Nye took Chingachgook to Giant Eagle. He had a blast. He likes Frito's and that dip Nye makes."

"How'd he do at poker?"

"Not bad. He talks shit, we don't understand a damn thing he says, but he talks it." Angel came up to them while she was saying that and started laughing.

"Did he practice at darts?" he asked her.

"Yeah and Jones told him about Marcus so he has a goal now."

"That bastard." He stalked out of the room and called for Jones. Reaper and Smith rounded up the Apache and told them they needed to move on.

* * *

Angel found Jones outside watching the interaction between the Apache and the Mohicans. "You fucking idiot. I can't believe you gave him that goal," then punched him in the stomach. Chingachgook stopped and watched.

Jones rammed his head into Angel's stomach then stood up. "I thought that was a funny story. Smith said she'd sell tickets to a match between you and Reaper and Chingachgook and Marcus if Chingachgook could beat you. Shit, I'd pay to see that."

"I thought it was an interesting tale, Angel," Chingachgook told Angel in Mohican.

Angel faced Chingachgook. "You think you can take me, old man?" he challenged him in Navajo.

Chingachgook held up his hand and wriggled his fingers. "Bring it," he said in Mohican. Jones fell on the ground laughing his ass off. The Apache were watching this with interested eyes. Great Hawk interrupted and Jones told him the story. They didn't understand a damn thing but were interested in 'darts'.

"Fine. I'll set up a match tonight, after dinner." Great Hawk asked about coverings for the teepee he was building.

"The brush here is not good."

"We have blankets you can use or we can take you to Home Depot for some tarp."

"'Home Depot'? 'Tarp'?"

"Let's look at the blankets first, or you can just stay inside with us."

Great Hawk didn't look all that impressed but followed Angel into the hotel. They stopped by a room near his and he opened it up. Great Hawk walked to the bathroom. "Shower." He touched the blankets. "Still smooth. Are all blankets like this?"

"No, some are softer." Hawk's eyes got wide. He flushed the toilet. "Toilet. Still interesting."

"I do not like staying inside all the time. I can't prepare for an attack." Hawk turned to Angel as he said this.

"You can come and go as you please and there aren't any more people other than what you see here, as far as we know."

"You said you would explain."

"As soon as we know we'll tell you. We don't know everything yet. We've told the Mohicans everything we know."

Hawk raised his eyebrows. "Mohicans? I've never heard of them."

"They were wiped out by white people. The only ones left are Chingachgook and his sons."

Hawk snorted. "I'm not surprised. White people make no sense."

"Fine. We'll stay in this 'hotel' but I want to be able to come and go as I please."

"You can. We only ask that you stay close in case another time shift happens and you end up in a different place then when you woke up."

Hawk nodded his head and left the room. Jones stepped out of his way. "Are there going to be issues?" he asked.

Angel shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think so, except with Warrior Woman. She'll eat the Mohicans and Monroe's for breakfast and not break a sweat. In fact, I think it would be a good idea if she stays away from them."

Jones nodded. "So, want to hear a funny story?"

Angel laughed and grabbed Jones by the shoulders and dragged him out of the room. "Sure. Dealing with these guys has strained my patience, of which I have very little."

Jones chuckled. "Cool. So we were shopping at the mall, the day we had that little party. And, man, we had the most interesting discussion about condoms and jacking off with Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye. I'm telling you, Angel, you should've seen their faces when Nye asked about masturbating. I thought Uncas was going to pass out."

* * *

They made it down for dinner. The Apache, Angel, Reaper, and Chingachgook sat at a different table as knives and forks were explained. They were unsure of how to eat spaghetti until Reaper showed them. Wise Mother picked up pretty quick. Warrior Woman tried stabbing it and Hawk Singing wore more than she ate. Chingachgook picked up some of the language and was able to answer a few questions. The garlic bread didn't go over well, but the apple pie was a hit.

Uncas and Hawkeye watched the other table intently. They wanted to be ready in case the Apache decided to attack. So far, they were following their father's lead, but that would change if the Apache weren't peaceful.

Alice and Cora hadn't quite gotten over their shock of those women undressing in front of them. Smith explained about cultural mores again. "You're way isn't always the right way. And, to be honest, the area they're from doesn't get much water so I'd strip for a shower too."

"The point is, ladies," the Captain interrupted, "that you don't have to like or approve of what they do, but you will be tolerant. They think what you do is wrong. So who's right?"

"I see your point, Captain," Cora grudgingly acknowledged.

"Okay, I hear that Jones set up a darts game between Chingachgook and Angel. This should be good. We'll meet in the bar at nineteen thirty hours. Alice, Smith, Jones, I believe that it's your turn to clean up. Dismissed," Sarge said.

Smith pulled Cora, Alice, Uncas and Hawkeye aside. "You don't have to watch the dart game if you don't want."

"Yeah, we'll watch Great Hawk like a hawk," Nye told them.

"That totally blew. You know that, right?"

* * *

The bar was filled with almost everyone. The Apache stood to the side, by Reaper, so she could explain the game. Smith joined them. Einstein, Nye and Jones sat with Uncas, Hawkeye and Cora. Alice had gone to the game room to watch another movie with Mutt. Halfway through Hawk Singing came in and looked at the television. She got close and tried to touch the inside. Alice explained that you couldn't do that. She shut it off and Hawk Singing kept touching the screen. Alice showed her the remote, which she played with for minutes asking questions that Alice couldn't answer. Mutt whined so they took him out, Hawk Singing talking the entire time. Alice didn't understand any of it. She was going to ask Smith to teach her some Apache words.

In the bar Angel was beating Chingachgook by five points. He'd gotten good. The Apache were staring intently. Gray Wolf told Reaper he wanted to learn. She said she'd teach him or he could have Chingachgook teach him. He stayed silent and watched the end of the match. Angel held out his hand and Chingachgook shook. "Good job, Chingachgook. Like Jones said, no one's ever beaten us but Marcus."

"I have a goal now, Angel."

He laughed and said it was good to have a goal then they taught Great Hawk and Gray Wolf. Wise Mother just shook her head. Everyone decided to go to bed after that. Angel and Reaper took Great Hawk and Gray Wolf to the room across from them with Wise Mother, Warrior Woman and Hawk Singing next to them in the connecting room. They were told that they could leave if they like but stay close. If they needed anything to come in. Then they went down to the pool and had loud sex.

* * *

Breakfast the next day was a commotion. It was pretty much a repeat of the Mohican and Monroe's first day. Angel and Reaper explained all the dishes, Einstein and Nye helping out. Chingachgook showed up and Reaper almost kissed him.

"Thank you. Can you please take charge?"

Great Hawk seemed to warm up to Chingachgook so watched intently while he ate then copied his motions. His eyes got wide with the cream cheese and he tried to eat it out of the container. Gray Wolf was licking powdered sugar off the plate. Wise Mother and Hawk Singing liked the honey on toast.

"Perhaps my sons could learn and help me," Chingachgook offered.

"Whatever you want to do, man. Like you, Great Hawk and Gray Wolf would like to leave when they want. They can. We've asked them to stay close. Not because of the time shift but because if we can get this….whatever this is off the ground we're riding one last time wave."

"Oh, we forgot to tell you, that we did some hunting while we were away. Caught a couple of rabbits. It's safe to eat. I'm sure this diet is driving you crazy, so if you want to hunt for food you're good to go," Angel told him. Chingachgook looked surprised. "We didn't want you to hunt and find out, by dropping dead, that they couldn't be eaten so we experimented with ourselves."

"And, if you're tired of sleeping inside, feel free to make some shelters in back. Chingachgook, we know you're not white and we hated to keep you cooped up and not doing your normal, but we wanted to make sure it was safe for you to do so. We like you, man." Reaper smiled wide at him.

Chingachgook was shocked that they did these things to protect him. He nodded his head in acknowledgement. Yangeze never cared for the 'Natives'. "We wanted to tell you first, but we're telling Hawk and Wolf next. Unless, you want to use it as a bonding experience," Angel suggested.

"'Bonding experience'?"

"Yeah, like you can go out and hunt together. They hunt different animals and you could, you know, help them out." Chingachgook laughed. These Yangeze… Except he didn't think of Angel and Reaper as that. He nodded his head again. Uncas and Hawkeye showed up, then the Monroe sisters.

"Go, all of you. I'll take charge," he said.

Einstein came up and hugged him. "Thank you. Thank you." She pulled back. "I don't care if that's frowned upon so just be thankful I'm not kissing you." Nye held his hand out, slapping Chingachgook on the back while doing so. "Thanks, man." Angel and Reaper gave him a thumbs up and they all left the room.

* * *

The Apache were shown the dish pit area and wanted to play. Chingachgook tried to explain but ended up showing them instead. He took them to the pool area. Hawk put his hand in the water then sniffed, getting a disgusted look on his face. Chingachgook told Uncas and Hawkeye it was safe to hunt and eat what they found. They went back to the room and changed clothes, the male Apache following. Everyone got their knives and went outside, leaving the Monroe's with the women.

Chingachgook took off running with Uncas, Hawkeye, Great Hawk and Gray Wolf behind him. It felt great to run and hunt. They covered several miles until a large wooded area was found. They stopped and walked in quietly, looking for game.

* * *

Alice and Cora were unsure as to what to do. The soldiers left them first, then Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye left. They cleaned up the dining area, the women watching, touching things. Alice tried to explain, Hawk Singing watched what she did. Wise Mother stood back with Cora while she gave the lesson. Singing said 'dish pit?' in English and Alice smiled. "Yes, dish pit." Mutt came in and Singing stuck by Alice while she fed him. Cora turned, with a small smile, toward Wise Mother. She pointed to herself and said 'Cora'. Wise Mother looked confused but she did it again.

"'Cora'," she repeated. Wise Mother pointed at her and called her by her name. Cora smiled wide.

* * *

In the conference room Einstein and Nye set up laptops while Angel and Reaper hit Best Buy again for more computers so they could make a server. Smith and Jones were printing out the diary, Sarge and the Captain were analyzing the sat data against the data that had been hacked from the Chinese and Russians.

Around noon the server had been set up and Ryan's hard drives loaded. Smith examined the stone that was brought back while Jones looked at the video. He had a degree in abnormal psychology so was best suited to analyze the impetus behind this. Angel looked at the good Dr.'s formulas while Reaper worked the destroyed equipment trying to decipher the plans from the diary. Einstein and Nye needed another server to run his programs so Angel and Reaper had to drive to the next town over to get more computer equipment.

They hunted down Cora and Alice and asked if they wanted to go. "They might have more movies that you can get and another computer," they eyed the one that Warrior Woman had thrown against the wall when Alice powered it up.

They piled in the SUV. Angel and Reaper tried to teach the Monroe's some Apache. They started with a few words and Singing wouldn't shut up.

"Now you know why she's called Hawk Singing," Reaper informed them. Singing asked Reaper a question which she answered. She then turned to Alice and pointed to her head and spoke.

"Alice, I told her that you'd learn her language and you'd teach her yours. It'll keep you both out of trouble. Got it?"

Alice agreed quickly and repeated the word, then gave the word for head to Singing. They practiced all the way to Best Buy. Cora thought that was a good idea and turned to Wise Mother, whom also liked the idea. Warrior Woman laughed until Angel said something to her then she shut up. She watched the lessons intently.

Three hours later they pulled up to the hotel and Reaper headed for the bar. She poured two shots of tequila, set out some salt and went to find a lemon. When she came back the shots were gone. "Angel, you asshole, those were mine."

"It's about damn time you got back with that," he ignored her comment. He poured out four shots, pushed two in front of her then told her to catch up. They'd finished half the bottle of tequila before heading to the kitchen for some popcorn that Jones said they scored. After they'd come down from their buzz they headed back to see the other server set up.

"Let's break for now, a couple of hours, then hit it again. This lunatic fringe took years to set this in motion, we're not going to get it in one day. Besides, it looks like our mechanical engineer and our mathematician could use a break," the Captain laughed.

"Captain, you don't even know. When we get home, you seriously need to ask Marshon that we get a month's vacation."

"I agree with Reaper, Captain. I mean, I know were some sort of 'special unit', but I don't recall seeing 'teaching people from the past how to communicate' in our job descriptions," Angel nodded his head in Reapers direction.

"Yes, you do, Angel. It's in the 'all other jobs deemed necessary," Sarge pointed out. "Or don't you recall reading that?"

Angel grumbled all the way to the dining room, Einstein and Nye laughing like lunatics. When they walked in Chingachgook, Uncas, Hawkeye, Hawk and Wolf were eating what they'd caught that day.

"Did you fuckers at least save us some?" Reaper bitched in Apache. Hawk stood up. "Don't fuck with me, Hawk. I've spent three hours in a car with Warrior Woman. You're lucky I didn't toss her out of it."

He laughed. "She can be…how do you say, 'a little trying'?" Angel grabbed Reaper around the waist when it looked like she was going to go for him.

"Your woman is spirited, Angel. Warrior Woman is the same for me."

"Yeah and that makes for great sex, but other times a fucking headache. Can you at least get her to shut it down a little?"

"'Shut it down'?"

"Yes, give it a rest, tone it down, stop being a bitch, pick a phrase. No one's happy with the situation but we're trying to deal with it the best we can."

Cora had stepped up and made dinner, trying a recipe for chicken with rice. Everyone took a seat, started eating and watched the show. The Monroe's didn't understand it at all, the Mohicans some, but the soldiers understood every word. Einstein and Jones flashed five fingers. She pointed to Hawk, he pointed to Reaper. Chingachgook pointed to Reaper and Jones gave him a thumbs up. Uncas and Hawkeye looked confused. Then Uncas pushed plates of the rabbit they caught in front of them.


	9. Chapter 9

Everyone started eating after it looked like the storm was over. Reaper nodded her head in Uncas' direction in thanks, while Angel had asked about hunting.

"It felt good to be out," Chingachgook said.

"Glad you enjoyed it. Did you want to finish the house to house?" the Captain asked. "This is going to take us a while. We've gotten started and we can give you an update if you like."

Hawk looked at Angel and Reaper as his English wasn't that good yet. He'd heard the white man language before, but didn't understand it. But he was learning Mohican.

Angel explained. Hawk's eyes got big. "We'd like to do this. I do not want to be unprepared."

"Fine. If Chingachgook, Uncas or Hawkeye wants to continue then they'll show you how," the Captain responded. "If not, as long as you go not more than a day away, that would be good."

"Maybe we should hit the garden center or Home Depot. You know, for food plants," Einstein suggested.

Angel asked Wise Mother if she wanted to plant a garden. She said yes, she needed something to do and to contribute.

"Great, maybe the Monroe's will help," Nye volunteered them.

"Fine, we'll make a run at Home Depot and the garden store tomorrow. We'll take the truck and go to both of those. We'll make a day of it."

Einstein, Nye, Angel, Reaper, Smith, Jones and Sarge all raised their glasses to her in honor of that fabulous idea. It would keep the Mohicans, Apache and Monroe's all out of their hair while they worked on Ryan's stuff.

Dinner ended with another dart game. Uncas and Hawkeye against Smith and Jones. Smith and Jones won but promised a rematch some time later.

* * *

The next day, Einstein and Nye were at work in the conference room when they were told to suit up, Home Depot was on the docket. They met everyone in the lobby. The soldiers were dressed for combat. The Apache had to touch everything. Hawk liked the weapons, Wolf looked at the helmets. Sarge pulled up and everyone loaded in the back, Angel and Reaper near the doors. They made it to Home Depot and the Apache watched while the soldiers worked their way into the building. The all clear signal was given and the Apache, Mohicans and Monroe's saw their way into another store.

They were there for eight hours. Everyone was in awe of the amount of supplies, what they could do. Hawk Singing loved the lights, Warrior Woman the mirrors and Wise Mother the garden area. She picked out what she needed along with the Monroe's. The men liked the saws. The guys laughed the women rolled their eyes.

"It doesn't matter when they're born, dudes like tools," Smith quipped. They left Home Depot with half the equipment, all the wood and most of the garden area. The garden store didn't have as much, but the Monroe's took some of the flowers, packets and what was still alive from the automated sprinkling system. Wise Mother cleaned out the food packets. When they got back to the hotel the Captain made them unload the truck and take everything to the back.

"Do what you want. Again, if you leave don't go more than a day away."

* * *

For three months the Apache, Mohicans and Monroe's put up their shelters, started a garden and basically made some semblance of the lives they used to lead. They still used the bathrooms, kitchen, beds and game room, but for the most part Chingachgook and his new tribe settled in. The soldiers commandeered another conference room and started to reassemble Ryan's time machine.

The Captain and Sarge found the power station and sewage plant, looked them over, fixed anything that needed fixing. Angel and Reaper ran the others around if they wanted to go to the store or Home Depot again. Einstein and Smith had conversations with the women about birth control while Jones and Nye had the same conversation with all the men. Cora became the de facto nurse, those med kit lessons had come in handy for deep cuts. Einstein showed her how to really stitch a wound, not what she'd seen in the past.

Chingachgook, Uncas, Hawkeye, Hawk and Wolf cleared a thousand houses of the surrounding area. The women had taken over the cooking and cleaning. Singing loved doing laundry, Warrior Woman doing dishes and Wise Mother basically overseeing everything.

At the end of four months the Captain stood at the head of the conference room table. "If this guy's machine worked more than one time I'd go back to the Dark Ages and kill him myself," she informed her men. "And I'm sure you'd all go with me."

"Well, we can probably rest easy knowing he was killed pretty much out of the gate," Sarge told her. "They probably burned him for witchcraft or some such bullshit."

"I wish they would've kept better records because I'd go find it and plaster it on my wall," Smith snarled.

"That's a goal. I say we adopt it when we get back," Nye recommended.

"What are we going to tell Chingachgook?" Angel asked her.

"We're going to tell him as much of the truth as possible. We know if they stay here the inbreeding will ruin them, if they're lucky to stay put. So, let's tell them what we found, have a party. I think we deserve it. We'll tell him the rest tomorrow," the Captain said. She turned to Reaper. "When we get back I'm definitely asking for a month off for the unit. I'm sure that Suzy is ready to divorce me and when she hears this story she'll think I'm insane."

"The first thing I want to do when we get back is order pizza," Einstein said apropos of nothing.

"I say we kick everyone out but us, or we go to another place, party like its 2007, then tell them tomorrow," Jones suggested.

"Fuck 'em. It's our place, too. They'll either deal or they won't. They're going to have to learn about our time soon, so let's give them their first in your face lesson," Reaper said.

"James likes my stories. I think he's made some money from them on Amazon," Sarge told them. He looked at everyone. "Of course, the names have been changed to protect the innocent."

That broke the tension. The Captain ordered everyone into party clothes. "Reaper's right. Fuck 'em."

* * *

Chingachgook and the other men came back from hunting and the women weren't around. He'd been talking to Wise Mother and was starting to think about that birth control lecture from Nye and Jones. Then he heard loud music. The men cleaned the animals they'd caught that day and took them to the refrigerator and saw the women outside the bar. They'd been busy building their lives back as best they could. They still played darts, poker was too boring for Hawk and Wolf, still spent time with the soldiers.

He hadn't heard this music in a while. The soldiers must have found something and were celebrating. The men headed for the bar and came to a dead stop. Some atrocious music was playing and the soldiers were dancing with each other. The women were in dresses like he'd seen Reaper in all those months ago, the men dressed like Angel had been. Chingachgook saw Reaper and Angel rubbing up against each other to a song about sex. Smith and Jones were too. The Captain and Sarge were drinking little glasses of clear liquid quickly. Einstein and Nye were playing with the darts. He was standing behind her his hands on her breasts while she pressed against him and threw the dart at the board. She missed badly.

Another song came on, something about it being hot when Einstein took off her shoes. Smith and Reaper soon followed. After that song ended another came on. Something about a 'roundelay' and the Captain joined the other women and they were dancing with each other and singing. Angel came over to Reaper with the little glasses and they drank them quickly. Angel saw him and said they could come in, they'd keep it clean.

"'Keep it clean'?"

"Yeah, no dirty dancing. I see Warrior Woman tapping her foot."

She stopped. Hawk looked at her, she smiled at him.

"We're celebrating, Chingachgook," Smith smiled and waved.

"We'll tell you in the morning," Jones said as he ran his hand down the front of Smith's dress that stopped at mid-thigh.

Cora had seen some of this before. So had Alice. Cora was still intrigued and it took a lot to not tap her foot. Alice looked at the women soldiers and wondered how they had danced in those shoes. Great Hawk admired the women, even liked some of the clothes on the men. Gray Wolf wondered if that fire water was any good. The soldiers had locked it up except for them. Uncas and Hawkeye stood passively. They weren't as shocked this time. Warrior Woman did like the music and the sparkly dresses. So did Hawk Singing. Wise Mother shook her head and looked at Chingachgook, who did the same.

"You can stay if you want, but I'm eating," he told the group. Wise Mother followed him down the hall to the kitchen.

"Children," she snorted. Chingachgook agreed.

* * *

The next morning the soldiers didn't appear until oh eight hundred hours. They'd partied until around eleven. When Einstein started breakfast no one was around.

"They'll find us," the Captain said. She was right. About an hour later Chingachgook walked in to see them in the dining area drinking coffee, dressed in jeans, t-shirts and their combat boots. Everyone carried some kind of hand gun.

"Chingachgook, we have some news," the Captain told him.

"Yes. The bar told the story."

All eyes turned to him. They gave nothing away.

"We were going to schedule a briefing but if you'd like to do this now, we can," the Captain offered.

"Now is fine. I'll find the others." He stood up, grabbed some coffee and went outside. The women were working the garden, getting the last of the food in before winter. The men were working on the storage buildings.

"They're ready," he called out and walked back inside. He walked to the conference room and found water and sodas on the table as well as a pot of coffee, cream and sugar.

"Please, if you want to get something to drink, do so now. This may be a rather lengthy explanation. I request that you hold the questions until the end," the Captain stipulated.

Everyone got situated around the table. The screen came on with a picture of a small faced white man.

"This is Dr. Noel Ryan," Sarge started the explanation. "He's the cause of all of this. Now, it involves some very theoretical physics questions, which will be very hard to explain and you may not understand, but we'll do our best. We're going to give you some background on the good Dr. first.

"Dr. Ryan had an intense fascination with knights, kings, queens, swords, basically anything to do with King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table. He was also crazy. Smart, but crazy. About ten years ago he hypothesized building a time machine that he could use to go back to that time and become a Knight, defending the realm, rescuing maidens, all that bullshit. He built it. Several, in fact. It wasn't until about a year ago, when he got a piece of a meteorite that struck Russia back in the early 1900's that he was able to start performing experiments. This is what happened."

Nye brought up the pictures of the rats. One had a body but it looked like its head had been cut off neatly. One was missing feet. One had its skin removed and all its organs displayed.

"There are others; one of which Angel and Reaper brought back, that are worse. About six months ago he finally made the damn thing work. Unfortunately, there were repercussions. The dead zones we told you about weren't affected like the rest of the areas. That also meant that we were time jumped, along with the Mohicans, Apache, the T Rex, and the cars that flowed through time. What he did when he got it right was moved the rest of time just a little bit forward."

"I don't understand. Moved the rest of time?" Cora asked.

"Yes. There is some speculation that time flows like a river. When you drop a pebble in it you get ripples. That's what he did basically. All of us were at the farthest ripple." Einstein said. "Because we were at the end of the ripples we jumped later than our time, bobbing up and down. When we started the time jumps we ended up in ancient Earth, we moved forward to ancient Greece, feudal Japan, then the 1700's then the '70's then the 2000's, always just a little behind. When the ripples stopped we stopped. That's how we ended up at this time. This area used to be a dead zone. Until the cell towers were built up and cell phones were able to reach it. The mountains are always tricky to get reception as well as deep valleys, the ocean. That's why we were able to find fish before land animals."

"What we're trying to tell you is that we can get home, but only one home. When we do this, and you want to stay, we can't guarantee what will happen. You all may end up in the Dark Ages, or during the dinosaur time, or feudal Japan, or ancient Greece, or any other time period. If none of that happens, and you're lucky enough to stay here, the inbreeding amongst your children will end up killing you off. Now, we're not making you come with us," the Captain explained, "merely letting you know what your options are. But I will be understood on this point: we're going home."

"If we go to your time, what will happen to us?" Great Hawk asked.

"Here you have options. Angel and I know people on the White Tank Apache Indian Reservation. The white man put the Natives on what they called 'reservations'. Great Hawk, the Apache could go there, as well as the Mohicans. I'm not sure about the Monroe's. They'd be fine with you living there, maybe, but being a Native comes with special benefits, of which they'd get none, unless they married into the tribe. Or," she turned it over to Angel.

"My father is Navajo my mother Sioux. There are reservations for both tribes. Again, you'd be welcome, even the Monroe's, but they wouldn't be entitled to the special benefits unless they married into them and I couldn't guarantee that. Your children yes, you no." He looked at the Monroe's to emphasize his point.

"If you choose not to go to either place, we have friends that can help you acclimate. We'd have to get you what we call GED's, high school diploma's, we'd help you with college and you can get your own jobs," Smith said. "Or you could live with us. We basically live at a compound, much like what you're used to now. We share a lot of land, but live in separate houses. If you choose to stay with us, you could build your own houses, do whatever you want. Again, the special benefits would be available to the Apache and Mohicans but not the Monroe's."

"Chingachgook, what Reaper or Angel didn't tell you is that you'd have to join one of those tribes. The Mohicans were wiped out, I think you know this, except for you, Uncas and Hawkeye. Uncas and Hawkeye must not have children or Angel and Reaper would've heard of them and learned the language. We also can't go to the Federal government and say 'Hey, we did some time jumping and we have the last three Mohicans. They need recognition.' If our government got this information, let's just say that there are some officials that would turn the world inside out," Jones emphasized.

"We care what happens to you, I hope you believe that," Nye continued. "We realize that this is a less an ideal situation and if we could we'd, no pun intended, go back and slice the nuts off Ryan's father, but we can't. Well, we can, but it could make things worse."

"We apologize that it can't be different. We'd prefer to let you live your lives as to how you want, but that's not an option. Now, we're going to give you a week to think things over. Again, you don't have to go, you can stay here and take your chances. Just know, if you choose to come with us, we'll give you all the help we can," Sarge pushed the point.

Chingachgook had been silent the entire time. He knew that Angel and Reaper would help them. "How will you explain this?"

"It depends on the situation. If you end up with us, at the time this happened, you'd be with us on patrol in the Middle East. Iraq to be exact. Not a very friendly place. We'd move you to the most secure location until we could get you to our compound. We have ways. You'd have to stay, my wife and the Sarge's husband, would help you, until we're finished. We're scheduled for another month or until we accomplish our objective," the Captain took a breath. "If we ended up here, at the time we're supposed to be on patrol, it would get a little more complicated and easier. We're a 'special unit' of the Marine Corp. Not exactly well known, more hush hush. I'd take this to my commanding officer. We've seen some things, odd things, and he'd take care of the paperwork. We'd have to go back on patrol, leaving you somewhere. Just know that we're not giving up any of this information to anyone. In fact, we're scrambling what we did find so no one ever learns how to make another time machine."

"Yeah, because if I've got run from another T Rex again, someone's gonna die," Reaper spit out. Angel patted her on the shoulder.

"Actually, it would be better if they did end up with us in Iraq," Einstein said. "We could move them and no one would be the wiser, but us."

"Agree to a point," Nye replied. "It's just that couple of days until we could get them someplace safe."

"We could call in air support, get a chopper," Reaper cut Smith off.

"We'd have to give a reason and when the pilot sees ten more people than he's supposed to pick up, fuel becomes an issue."

"And if we walked, it's about 50 miles and it's fucking July. They'd suffer from heat exhaustion the first day and we didn't bring enough water except for us humping it for a week," Jones brought up.

"That crazy fuck was able to pinpoint where he went, right? Within a certain radius. What if we went to the compound, got them settled for a bit, then snuck back in country? We're radio silent until next Friday," Sarge threw out.

Smith got excited. "Yeah, with what's going on in Syria we could sneak across the border."

Angel and Reaper tilted their heads. "Yeah, that's doable," Angel agreed. "We'd have to steal some trucks to make it back to our original point."

"Or, we could go to Kuwait. I know that Al-Shiri's there and the guy owes me," Nye practically jumped out of his seat. "No questions. We could get James or Suzy or both of them to come get them. We'd meet them, give them the scoop, and get them out."

"We'd need some serious cash to get them passports. I know it would take at least three days to get good ones that would pass. The compound would be the best," the Captain noted. She turned to them. "We wouldn't mind getting the money, I want you to know, but I don't think three days in Kuwait is the best way to meet our time."

"Good point," Nye agreed. "Probably not the best."

"Well, think on it. If you have any questions ask us." They filed out of the conference room.

* * *

Chingachgook was throwing darts. It soothed his mind, allowed him think about the situation. It troubled him that Uncas didn't have children. That Angel and Reaper knew of. He was certain they would have found some. If they went to the future there was still a chance. He didn't like that Uncas watched Alice Monroe. Maybe they could settle with Angel's father. He could marry a Navajo woman and continue the line. Chingachgook himself could marry a Sioux woman and continue the line. According to Jones, men had children in their 50's. Many things to think about.

* * *

Alice and Cora went to their room. They'd gotten used to the 'modern' things, but living there? With other people?

"Do you think I could get a job doing 'cartoon movies'?" Alice asked.

"I don't see why not. According to Smith, women can do whatever they want. Look at the things they've shown us."

"I want to go, Cora. I'd rather take my chances with the Captain then what could happen when they leave."

"I do too, Alice. I think we should talk to Smith and Jones or Einstein and Nye about how it would work."

"Do you think Uncas would go with us?"

Cora sat on the bed beside her. "I'm not sure, Alice. You like him, don't you?"

"Yes, he's very handsome. And being with him wouldn't be frowned upon. Look at Reaper."

"Well, I don't think anyone but Angel, the Captain or Sarge would dare tell her what to do. She'd tell them to 'fuck off'." Alice giggled at Cora's use of profanity. They got off the bed to find Smith. Cora turned at the door. "Alice, I believe you want to say that Uncas is 'hot'." Alice giggled again.

* * *

"We're going," Great Hawk told Angel and Reaper. They were cleaning their weapons in the conference room while Einstein and Nye were pulling satellite footage of the area they were patrolling before being yanked through World History, live and in person. "But we'd want to know exactly how this would work." The other Apache were behind him, watching and listening.

"Okay. Well, you'd first have to go to our compound, like the Captain said, until we're done with this mission. Suzy and James would help you get birth certificates and call a couple of people that we know to get you registered with the Apache. They'll help you get the ball rolling with the Feds, because they can drag their feet when it comes to helping Natives."

Angel put the slide back in his Glock. "Have you decided where you want to live?"

"With you," Hawk turned to look at the others. They were nodding in agreement.

"Sweet," Nye said. He and Einstein high fived each other.

Reaper stared at him. "Aren't you just a little interested in how the Apache live now? You could go and stay with our friends for a while. If you don't like it, you can live with us."

"We would like to visit, but we want to live with you," Wise Mother decided.

"Cool," Angel finished loading the gun, put the safety on and grabbed another. "If you don't want to get jobs you don't have to, but we do insist on the driver's licenses and GED's. You'll take care of your own money, and you can do with it what you want. That's part of the special benefits from the government. We will also insist that drinking be kept to an absolute minimum. If one of you becomes an alcoholic or drug addict, we'll kill them. And we're not kidding."

Reaper shoved a clip into her gun with emphasis. "Don't become a statistic."

* * *

Uncas found Jones in one of the storage areas taking inventory of the weapons. They were going to try and take a little more fire power, if they could. "'Sup, Uncas?"

"'Sup'?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I would like to know how this would 'go down'."

Jones straightened up and looked at him. Hawkeye came up behind Uncas to listen. "Well, it would 'go down' like this: you'd have to stay at our compound until we're finished. And we're working on making it sooner rather than later. During that time, Suzy, the Captain's wife, is a doctor. She'll give you a check-up, some shots, other medical things that sound bad and some are, blah, blah, blah. After that, we'd get you a birth certificate, and depending what tribe you wanted to join, get your paperwork started with the Feds. Angel could tell you better what's involved. One thing we'd insist on, whether you stay with us or not, is GED's and driver's licenses. You can't really do anything nowadays without those things. James, the Sarge's husband, is a teacher. He can get you hooked into that." Jones looked at Hawkeye. "Did you want any information in particular, Hawkeye? Because it would be the same."

"I'm not Chingachgook's natural son. Will this be a problem?"

"Are you Chingachgook's son?"

"Yes."

"Then no problem."


	10. Chapter 10

Everyone was going. The Captain set up a briefing after dinner to go over what would be expected. "If you've talked to the others I'm sure they told you some of them. I'd like everyone to be on the same page with this."

Singing and Cora made dinner that consisted of the food the men had gotten a few days ago and some of the fruits and vegetables from their garden. Warrior Woman was kind of sad to be leaving, but excited at the same time.

They filed into the conference room and there was a picture on the screen. They sat down and saw pad of paper and writing utensils. "If you want to take notes. Those that have a hard time, well, you won't by the time my husband gets done with you," Sarge warned.

The Captain stared the briefing. "This picture you see behind us is part of our compound. We own 500 miles that spans two states, Minnesota and South Dakota. As we go through what's expected more pictures will appear of the different areas. We've chosen to live close together, more in Minnesota, but you don't have to do so. You can choose anywhere on our land and put up your buildings." She took a sip of coffee and continued.

"When we get there, my wife, Suzy, is a doctor. She'll give you check-ups, find a dentist and eye doctor for check-ups, get your inoculations, shots to protect you against disease, and general health issues. Once that's done, we know people that will get you birth certificates, so if you know how old you are, you'll need to tell her, and social security numbers. James, the Sarge's husband, is a teacher. He'll work with you on getting your GED's. We insist on those as well as driver's licenses. Smith and Jones can start that with you tomorrow, practicing driving."

Angel spoke next. "The Apache can get registered with the White Tank Tribe. Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye, you have several choices. The easiest for us will be the Navajo, Sioux or Apache. We know people that live on the Hopi rez, the Cherokee rez and a few others. We'll get with you on the number of tribes. We'll know someone who knows someone. You won't have to choose right away. If you want to go with the Navajo, Sioux or Apache let us know. The parents will want to visit when we get back, anyway. My father has a degree in Native Studies and crap, Reaper, he'll take them all."

She laughed. "I know, right?" She turned to Chingachgook. "It was nice knowing you. Angel's dad, man, shit, he'll never let you out of his sight. And when he finds out you speak Navajo, look the fuck out. He'll register you as Navajo so fast, you won't have a choice in the matter." She lay her head down on the table laughing. She looked up with tears in her eyes. "Can you just imagine your grandmother?" She fell on the floor. Then everyone else laughed.

"Holy fuck, grudge match," Jones stated.

"Five on Angel's grandmother," Einstein shouted.

"I'll take that. I say Angel's dad wins," Sarge countered.

"Are you fucking serious? Have you met his grandmother? Five on Singing Voice," the Captain retorted. Everyone laid bets while the Apache and Mohicans looked on in bemusement.

"Let me explain," Angel chuckled. "My father and my grandmother are very traditional. My father makes a good living. My grandmother, Singing Voice, is my mom's mom. She doesn't have a degree, but she's one stubborn bitch, and she'll be the first to tell you so. Chingachgook and Wise Mother, you may relate to this better, but Singing Voice doesn't think that my dad is good enough for her daughter. Needless to say, holidays are…"

"Fucking hysterical," Reaper cut in. "Man, I could tell you stories. Now, she'll try and take all of you, and the Monroe's, just to spite him. And to make sure you follow the right path, the Sioux way."

"My dad thinks the Navajo way is better, so he'll probably move in with you."

After bets were laid and noted attention turned to the Monroe's.

"Alice and Cora. The only difference for you both is the Native status. You'd not be eligible for the special benefits the others can receive. Basically, you all can live like you are now. If any of you want to get jobs, it's up to you. The Apache and Mohicans can attend college with financial assistance from the government. Alice and Cora, if you wanted to attend college we'll help you. You can stay on our land and not worry about anything. The only thing we ask is that you don't hunt off of our property. There are laws that govern that, as well as white people that don't like anyone but other white people."

"And sometimes that's questionable," Sarge snorted.

"That's the gist. Any specific questions?"

"Yes," Great Hawk started the question and answer session off with what type of hunting they had on their property. Einstein and Nye ran them through the type of game available as well as the weather year round for gardening. Smith and Jones told them that driving was on the table for tomorrow. "We'll clear the road around here so you can get some practical experience. I'll hit the DMV for some books, so you can get a heads up on the rules of the road."

After a schedule had been set everyone went to their rooms.

* * *

"Where do you think Singing Voice will take us?" Chingachgook asked Angel and Reaper when they were playing darts. He'd waited until everyone left, then went to their room.

"Nowhere, man. It's just a figure of speech. She'll just try and feed all of you."

"Does Angel's father mind that you are white, Reaper?"

Angel laughed. "Are you kidding? They think she's the best thing that ever happened to me. They adopted her. My grandparents, too."

"Even though you cannot have children?" He was worried.

"Chingachgook, skin color, having children, those are just things, man. Just because you share blood, don't mean dick. My mother was a junkie. She OD'd, overdosed, poisoned herself, when I was ten. My father's not listed on my birth certificate. I grew up in foster homes. The government paid people to take care of me. And most of the people who do that are in it for the money. And Angel's parents and grandparents don't care that I can't have kids. They want Angel to be happy. Angel doesn't want kids and if we change our minds there are a lot of kids that are growing up just like I did. So, this," she waved between herself and Angel, indicating skin color, "no big."

"They tell her she could do a lot better, actually." Angel pulled her in front of him, draping his arms around her. Reaper laid her head on his chest and looked up at him.

"Yeah, well, they lie."

Chingachgook threw his last dart. "We all bleed red."

* * *

The week went fast. The soldiers tried to tell their new charges everything they could think of before they went back. When the time came they gathered as many guns as possible. They hit the base one last time for more gear. The captain pushed the button attached to the machine and there was a blinding light. When they could see again they were fifty miles from their houses.

"Sonuvabitch," Sarge burst out. The Captain pulled out the cell phone she commandeered and texted her wife. Suzy showed up with a truck and James half an hour later.

Suzy ran up to the Captain and hugged her. She was a tall woman, with black hair, tan skin, brown eyes, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and boots. "What the hell, Ramona? You're supposed to be overseas. And who are these people?" James got out of the truck and hugged Sarge.

"Mike? What are you doing here?" he asked as he looked at the people, too.

"What day is it?" the Captain demanded of her wife.

"What?"

"What day is it, Suzy?"

"It's Monday."

"What's the date?"

"It's July 7, 2015. Are you okay? What are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you, but what the fuck? Mark never called and said you were coming home. Why didn't you call me? We would've picked you up, you bitch."

The Captain just hugged her wife. "Oh Suze, you won't believe this story."

"James, we're going to need a lot of drinks," Sarge told his husband. James was a little more muscular than Sarge and taller. He had blond hair, blue eyes and was dressed like Suzy. "But first we have some introductions to make."

"Introductions can wait. This can't." He kissed Sarge on the mouth. When they pulled apart he turned to the new people. "Now we can do introductions."

The Apache, Mohicans and Monroe's had stared, wide-eyed. They turned and saw the Captain kissing her wife. "Break it up, Captain," Sarge told her after five minutes. Suzy turned to Sarge.

"Fuck you, Mike. I haven't seen her in two months. Not my fault James is shy."

"He's right, honey. We have a lot of things to tell you." The Captain wrapped her arm around Suzy.

"Suzy, this is Chingachgook, Great Hawk, Uncas, Gray Wolf, Hawkeye, Wise Mother, Warrior Woman, Hawk Singing, Cora and Alice Monroe. Everyone, this is my wife, Sergeant Major Suzy Megalos." The Captain had pointed to everyone as they were introduced. Suzy held out her hand and Chingachgook looked at it. Angel nudged him and he put his hand out.

"This is my husband, Lt. Colonel James de Jagger. James, Ramona pointed everyone out. Damn, but we have a story to tell you." Suzy and James stared at the new people for a few minutes before turning back to their respective spouses.

"Okay, but it's going to be a tight fit. I brought the Suburban, like you asked. And what the hell number did you text me from? New York?"

The Captain steered her wife to the truck. "It's part of the story. How about you take me, James, Mike, Cora, Alice, Wise Mother, Warrior Woman and Hawk Singing. The men can hump it for a while. Chingachgook, did you want to go with us or them?"

"We will 'hump it', Captain."

"Fine. I expect to hear from you in two hours with your coordinates," she tossed the cellphone to Einstein. The Captain ushered everyone, along with Sarge, into the truck. They left and everyone started jogging. The Apache and Mohicans were impressed that the soldiers were keeping up, quietly, with them dressed in their gear. No one talked. The Apache looked around as they ran. Yes, Great Hawk thought. This had been a good decision.

Two hours and ten miles later Einstein called for a pickup. James showed up by himself. "Mike wouldn't say a damn thing until we got you, so get your asses in this truck now," he belted out.

"Yes, sir," the soldiers chorused. Everyone climbed in and James took off. "I'm disappointed in you. Only ten miles?"

"Sorry, sir, but we've been laying around on our asses for the past four months," Nye answered. James' eyebrows rose.

"This should be interesting." The rest of the ride was quiet. When they got back to the Captain's house Suzy was making sandwiches for everyone. The women were quiet, the Captain was getting drinks. When everything was done they sat around a large table.

"Report, Captain," James ordered her.

"Yes, sir. Well, we were in Iraq, when all of a sudden we weren't. We ended up in the Cretaceous era."

"Excuse me, Captain? Did you say the Cretaceous era?"

"Yes, sir." Then she told their story. Two hours later James and Suzy were still having a hard time with it.

"You destroyed all the evidence, of course," he stated.

"Yes, sir…" he cut her off.

"Knock it off with the 'sirs' right now, Ramona."

"Yes, we did, James."

"That was a good call. All we needed was for that dumbfuck Anders to get a hold of it. Shit, I think he's dumber than Bush. And that's saying something."

He got up and started pacing. "Well, it certainly was an interesting story. Another good call to bring them here." Suzy got up and pulled out her cellphone and started speaking in yet another language the Mohicans, Apache and Monroe's didn't understand.

"Well, the first thing we need to do is get to Ryan's house and see if there's anything there. If what you suppose is correct it still will be. You took it from the past, we'll need to get it from the now."

Suzy made another call. "We've got the plane on standby."

"Suit up everyone. We're going to Texas."

"What about Chingachgook and the others? Who'll stay with them?" Angel asked.

"Corporal, do you think they can't take care of themselves for a couple of hours?" James asked quietly. Angel scooted back in his chair a little.

"No, sir, but they might like to try a plane ride."

James laughed. "Why don't we call your mom, dad, Singing Voice and White Bear?"

"Because, sir, we wouldn't be around to see who won the bet." He threw back his head and laughed harder. "Good point, Corporal. I'll put my money on Singing Voice."

"Good choice, sir," Suzy told him. "I'm putting my money on her, too."

"Man, Angel's dad will be disappointed that some of his children have no faith in him," Reaper shook her head sadly.

"He's met Singing Voice, right?" Suzy asked. That broke the last of the tension as everyone but the Apache, Mohicans and Monroe's laughed.

"Mike, why don't you get in touch with your father? He may be able to help us decipher some of this shit. Although his son didn't do too bad you'll be otherwise occupied for a few hours after we get back."

Sarge smiled and contacted his father. "Okay, he'll be here in a couple of hours."

"Angel, why don't you get your mom and dad here, too? They may have questions and I don't want any anything to happen while we're gone. Make this on the QT."

"Yes, sir," Angel pulled out a cellphone and spoke in Navajo to his father. "They can be here in a couple of hours, sir. They're visiting White Bear and Singing Voice, so they're not far."

The colonel nodded his head. "Great. Send the chopper. When we figure this shit out, we'll have a gathering."

"Smith, Jones, you stay here, wait for Marcus, Eagle and Dancing Girl. Everyone else, you heard the man, suit up. We leave in ten," Sargent Major Megalos ordered.

* * *

Chingachgook was afraid. Sergeant Major Megalos was upfront with Lt. Colonel de Jagger. All the soldiers had taken off their gear and were dressed in jeans, t-shirts, boots and coats. They had weapons under them that were in some sort of harness they wore across their backs. They sat comfortably, talking to each other.

"You okay over there, Chingachgook?" Nye asked him.

Chingachgook was in a seat, holding on for his life. It was shaky, but none of the soldiers seemed to mind. After the 'plane' rose off the earth it seemed to stay steady. Einstein motioned him over to her and Nye. "Look," she offered, pointing out the window. He was afraid to move until he saw Reaper get up and go to the back. She patted him on the shoulder as she passed him. He got up, slowly, afraid to move. He shuffled over to the seat between Einstein and Nye and sat down. He looked out the window and saw clouds. Nye pointed down and he saw rivers that looked small, green and brown patches of earth. He was in awe. He didn't even notice when Lt. Colonel de Jagger sat down next to him, holding out a bottle of water. He took it and drank deeply.

"The white man accomplished flying with birds," he whispered.

"Yeah, he did. How you holding up, Chingachgook? My men treat you right?" He took a sip from a cup.

"Yes, Lt. Colonel. The Captain and Sarge have been very helpful. They explained everything, even if we didn't understand. They gave us a choice to come with them or stay when they figured out they could get home."

de Jagger nodded. "Good. I'm sure they offered to let you stay with us. As long as you don't hunt off our property, I think you'll like it."

Chingachgook turned back to the window. He looked out the entire time.

* * *

Marcus and Gi arrived first. Marcus was as big as Lt. Colonel de Jagger and Gi was as tall as the Captain. Marcus came up and hugged Smith and Jones. "And how are my boys doing? And don't lie to me, because I'll know," he looked at the new people then away again.

Gi, who was Korean, hugged them next. "Smith, Jones. It's so good to see you. Where are the others?" She'd seen them too and followed her husband's example.

Smith made introductions then asked that the others, if they left, to stay close. "We've got to get some things rolling before we leave again." Everyone but Alice and Cora left. They'd never seen anyone with eyes like Gi.

Smith told them that they had to go to Houston but would be back in a couple of hours. "Eagle and Dancing Girl should be here in about half an hour."

Marcus and Gi exchanged glances. Marcus and Jones went out the back door while Gi and Smith stayed with Alice and Cora. They talked about Gi's restaurant and how it was doing, how much she misses her kids, and she hoped they were being careful.

"You know us, Gi, we're nothing but careful. Besides, Angel and Reaper never let anyone near us. Coffee?" They went into the kitchen, Alice and Cora following.

"Yes, those two worry me the most. Marcus says that I should just stay out of it, but what does he know? He's a man." Smith wisely didn't say anything about her Sargent's dad. Gi laughed while she made coffee in a French Press. Alice and Cora looked at it intently. Smith got some cinnamon down, put it in two cups and asked Alice and Cora if they'd like any.

* * *

Jones stood by Marcus while he fired up the grill. "Houston, huh?"

"Yes, sir."

"You wanna tell me what's going on, Jones?"

"Sir, you're going to have to wait for the Lt. Colonel."

Marcus huffed. "None of my boys scare me, Jones. You realize this right?"

"Yes, sir," he replied. "Sorry, sir. Orders."

"Hm. Alright, Jones, why don't you bring out some steaks."

"Yes, sir." He left to get the steaks when there was an odd sound that none of the Apache, Mohicans or Monroe's heard before. Smith walked outside with Gi, Alice and Cora behind them when they saw a bubble descending to an area not far from the house.

The Apache and Mohicans came running around from the back when they saw two Natives driving a small car up the driveway. Gi called for Marcus.

"Woman, I am grilling steaks. Eagle and Dancing Girl know where to find me," he yelled to them.

Gi and Smith hugged the newcomers. Eagle was next. "How are my kids? Where are the others?" he glanced at the Apache and some other Natives he didn't recognize. They were dressed in some sort of old Native style dress. He shot a look at his wife, she nodded her head that yes, she saw them, too.

Jones introduced everyone. Uncas spoke to Eagle in Navajo. Dancing Girl and Eagle responded. Dancing Girl ushered everyone inside. Marcus came in hugged her, told Eagle to grab some soda's and he could watch a true master grill.

Eagle laughed and joined him. The Wise Mother asked Dancing Girl if she spoke Apache. She responded in the language and the other women sat beside her and talked. Gi helped Smith get everyone drinks and make up more food while they waited on the others. Three hours later, after everyone else had eaten, Lt. Colonel de Jagger and the soldiers walked inside. Hugs and kisses were exchanged while Chingachgook was introduced. Marcus was looking at the papers that the Captain shoved in his hands while they ate and shared news of rest of the family.

"Gi, why don't you, Eagle and Dancing Girl head up to the house. We've gotta leave in a few days, so we'll need help."

"Ahh, yes, we'll head up. See everyone in the morning."

After they left everyone stared at Marcus, talking amongst themselves. Chingachgook watched. He wondered at these people and the way they thought of themselves as family, much like he thought of Hawkeye as his son. So many different people.

"This guy was batshit crazy. Smart as fuck but batshit." He sat back and asked for a beer. He looked at the group. "If one thing had gone wrong we never would've seen you again. Shit, I'd like to build one and go beat the crap out of this guy." He took a drink of beer that Einstein gave him and looked at Chingachgook.

"So, how was your first flight?"

"The white man has done many amazing things."

"Yeah, well, there were a lot of missteps along the way. So, what are you going to do?"

"The Captain and Sarge say we can live here, with them. We have to get GED's and drivers licenses. Then I will build my house and live."

Marcus finished his beer, stood up and held his hand out. Chingachgook shook. "Good goals. And you couldn't have found better people to help you. All the parents will help, if you need it."

"We do," James took him up on the offer. "We're leaving in few days. We've got to get them examined and started on paperwork. I was hoping you could coordinate with my father and get it taken care of, Marcus."

"Sure. I'll shoot Alex an email. Eagle, Dancing Girl and Gi will keep everyone off their backs until you get home. But I thought that you and Suze were on temporary duty assignment?"

"We were. I pulled us off. The knee's better and so's Master Sergeant's hand," Reaper and Angel looked pissed and de Jagger turned to them. "Knock that look off your faces, Corporals. It was our own fault."

Reaper opened her mouth when de Jagger pointed. "Shut it, Corporal. Not one word."

"Yes, sir."

"We're finishing this. It shouldn't take longer than two weeks with the intelligence that Ramona and Mike were able to bring back. Einstein and Nye verified some of it's current and actionable. We need to get home quickly," he nodded his head in Chingachgook's direction.

"Fine. I'll get in touch with Alex and we'll take care of things. Suze, get the medical done first."

"On the docket, Marcus."

"Alright. We'll see you in the morning." He turned to the Apache, Mohicans and Monroe's. "There's room at the house. James'll show you how to get there, if you like. If not, the property's marked, so don't go hunting off of it."

He made it to the door when he turned. "Who's the favorite?"

"Two to one, Singing Voice," Suzy said.

Marcus threw his head back and laughed. "I'll buck the odds. Five on Eagle." He pulled out a five and gave it to James.


	11. Epilogue

Five years later saw Chingachgook holding his grandson. He looked like Uncas, dark hair and tan skin but with blue eyes like Alice Monroe. His other grandson looked like Hawkeye but with Cora Monroe's smile. He was very proud of his sons. His youngest son, Elan Wolf, named for his wife's, Wise Mother's brother, and his family, ran around. He was three and full of energy. He'd stayed with Wise Mother on the soldier's property. They'd gotten their GED's and driver's licenses, but both chose to live as close to the life they had before the time travel. They lived in their own house, the soldiers had put in pipes for running water, and solar panels for electricity. Wise Mother kept the garden, Chingachgook hunted.

Uncas had gotten his GED and decided to go to college for a degree in sustainability, while Hawkeye had gotten his degree in forestry. They both worked for the Department of Natural Resources to preserve the land. They taught their sons of their Mohican heritage. They'd registered with the Navajo, a blow to Singing Voice, but she had them visit often. Alice and Cora had gone to school. Alice for illustration, Cora for nursing. Alice illustrated the book that Wise Mother wrote of old Apache tales.

Great Hawk and Warrior Woman stayed together, on the soldier's land, and had one daughter with another on the way. Hawk Singing had married a Sioux man after Gray Wolf left. They received news of his death about a year after they'd arrived. Angel and Reaper had been pissed and very sad. They had left for a month, not even contacting Lt. Colonel de Jagger. Eagle had said nothing when asked.

Hawk walked in and nodded in their direction. "They're back," then turned and walked out. The soldiers had gone to Washington. After their last mission they'd decided to leave the Marine Corp. There had been some problems, Chingachgook could tell, but they'd not spoken of it. They were being honored for their service.

The couples followed Hawk and Warrior Woman to the house. Everyone was there. It had taken Chingachgook a year and a half to get used to the commotion when everyone gathered. James' father was Dutch, his wife Russian. He could see where James had gotten his height. Suzy's dad was Maori and her mother Greek. Einstein's mother was from Germany, her father from Portugal. Nye's mother was from Ireland, his father from Poland. Smith's mother was from France, her father from Peru. Jones' mother was from Italy, his father from South Africa. The Captain's mother was from the Philippines and her father from Japan. When they got together it was a mixture of food, languages and customs that were overwhelming at first.

…buncha fuckin' bullshit," he heard Reaper say as he got closer.

"Reaper, don't think I won't put you over my knee for the language, young lady," he heard Fiona scold her. He heard Angel laughing. "And you, young man, you'll be next," he heard her say with her Irish brogue then she spoke Irish. Angel responded in the Irish, as they called it. Angel and Reaper knew all the languages that everyone spoke. All the others knew at least three, not including Apache.

When he walked in they were in their dress uniforms. "Now you can change, Reaper," Ludovica told her. She turned and saw Chingachgook.

"It's about fu…" Alberto smacked her upside the head. "I believe Fiona warned you, little one." Angel wisely said or did nothing as Alexander was watching with his piercing blue eyes from across the room.

"Reaper, when will you ever learn?" Uncas laughed at her.

"No one asked you, Uncas. And your twin better not say anything either." Hawkeye just shook his head and headed for the food table. Alice was still afraid of them, even after five years. Marko had told her to tell them to 'stop being bitches'. Cora had asked if that worked. Daichi said no, but they'd respect them a little more. She'd never gotten up the courage. After Alex had gotten one picture he told them they could change. Chingachgook didn't think he'd ever seen them run that fast except from the T Rex.

They came back dressed in jeans, t-shirts and boots. "Take the weapons off. Now," Rani ordered them. Even her son, the Lt. Colonel walked back to his house. Chingachgook noticed they followed Alex and Rani's orders, everyone did, like the soldiers followed Lt. Colonel de Jagger. Corazon smiled. Gerik thanked her.

They trickled back one by one with Angel and Reaper being last. Reaper carried a child in her arms. Chingachgook was shocked. She looked like a Native.

He came up to them and Reaper put the little girl, Chingachgook could see, into his arms.

"We're done with the service," Angel shrugged his shoulders.

"She's Cheyenne and Apache," Reaper rubbed her hand down the girls back. "Her name's Lona. It means beautiful in Cheyenne." Dancing Girl came up and took her from Chingachgook.

"You'll have lots of time with her, Chingachgook," she held Lona up and crooned to her in Navajo. "And pretty soon, I will, too." She turned back. "Eagle got a job with SMSU. We'll be living closer to the family."

Emilien kissed Lona on the head. "There's my girl. Come see your Grandpere. Your Jatun mama wants to see you, too." He took her from Dancing Girl and headed over to Cassandra, who held her arms out.

Dancing Girl and Eagle kissed both of their children. "We can't wait to move. Singing Voice and White Bear are overjoyed." Eagle raised one of his eyebrows and they wandered over to their new grandchild.

"What will you do now?" Chingachgook asked them.

"Not sure. I think we're all going to take some time off. After we picked up Lona, everyone got baby fever. The Sarge and LT haven't decided if they're going to adopt or get a surrogate."

"A woman to carry the child for them," Angel explained at his puzzled look.

"If you want my opinion, I think the Captain and LT should just trade eggs and sperm."

"What a wonderful idea, Corporal," Sargent Major Megalos drawled behind her.

"Sorry, Sargent." Reaper slunked down a little.

The Captain laughed. "That's exactly what we're going to do. Pretty soon, Chingachgook the family will be about," she turned and counted, "four members larger."

"Yeah, man. You better start eating your Wheaties's, Chingachgook. Don't think we won't take advantage of live-in babysitters," Jones laughed as he came up next to him. Smith followed, putting her head on his shoulder. Einstein and Nye came up on his other side. The Sarge and Lt. Colonel de Jagger stood next to Angel and Reaper.

"Did I hear live-in babysitters? WooHoo," Nye turned to Einstein. "See, we can still get into bar fights, honey."

"You goof," Einstein laughed then kissed him on the lips.

Reaper wagged her finger between them all. "See, no big."

Gi and Marcus told everyone to move their asses. "The steaks are getting cold." Chingachgook heard Reaper complain as they walked to the table. "Why does he get to swear and we don't?"

Angel kissed her on the head and went to get Lona. The party was long and loud. Wise Mother took Elan back to their house. Chingachgook told everyone good night and followed her. Angel and Reaper found him hours later. He sat with them for a while.

"Thank you." They waved and left.


End file.
